Do I do that ...?

[Betty LaRue]

No offense meant from me. Gennadii raised a couple of timely questions, ones that need to be discussed, especially with a lot of new contributors coming to Alamy from microstock. Also, the "community" needs shaking up every now and then.

 

BTW, I have only one real "duck on pond" image on Alamy, and it has actually sold!

 

Well, it's really a duck standing next to a pond, but close enough. Personally, I've never met a duck that I didn't like.

Same for me. I'm a bird lover, and ducks qualify. In fact I love ducks so much I had two Peking ducks for pets. In a city neighborhood. I spent a good deal of time in my back yard holding and petting them. They followed me around like I was momma duck, and I don't even waddle.

Then they began, at the crack of dawn, parading back and forth past the patio door raising a huge quacking ruckus, wanting me to come out and play.

They were as loud as a barking dog, and being a good neighbor, I tried to quiet them. I bought a kiddie swimming pool. Throwing them in it at first quack that next morning, then going back to bed worked. They paddled and pooped around happily for an hour.

The next morning, it lasted 30 minutes.

The third morning, they instantly climbed out and noisily followed me to the door.

I called a couple of vets and asked if ducks could have their quackers removed. I hung up to the sound of hysterical laughter.

I ended up having to give them a new home on a neighborhood pond 5 miles away.

I cried for a week, until my eyes were slits. Up to a year later, if family said "ducks", I bawled like a baby. Jazz and Twinkie were their names.

[Gennadii Rybalov]

 

No offense meant from me. Gennadii raised a couple of timely questions, ones that need to be discussed, especially with a lot of new contributors coming to Alamy from microstock. Also, the "community" needs shaking up every now and then.

 

BTW, I have only one real "duck on pond" image on Alamy, and it has actually sold!

 

Well, it's really a duck standing next to a pond, but close enough. Personally, I've never met a duck that I didn't like.

Same for me. I'm a bird lover, and ducks qualify. In fact I love ducks so much I had two Peking ducks for pets. In a city neighborhood. I spent a good deal of time in my back yard holding and petting them. They followed me around like I was momma duck, and I don't even waddle.

Then they began, at the crack of dawn, parading back and forth past the patio door raising a huge quacking ruckus, wanting me to come out and play.

They were as loud as a barking dog, and being a good neighbor, I tried to quiet them. I bought a kiddie swimming pool. Throwing them in it at first quack that next morning, then going back to bed worked. They paddled and pooped around happily for an hour.

The next morning, it lasted 30 minutes.

The third morning, they instantly climbed out and noisily followed me to the door.

I called a couple of vets and asked if ducks could have their quackers removed. I hung up to the sound of hysterical laughter.

I ended up having to give them a new home on a neighborhood pond 5 miles away.

I cried for a week, until my eyes were slits. Up to a year later, if family said "ducks", I bawled like a baby. Jazz and Twinkie were their names.

 

An interesting story. Thank you!

[AlessandraRC]

 

I would not do this. From what I gather from stock forums you can go years on Alamy without making a sale; that you need time and thousands of images to build your place in line with the search engine. Until you find out which images sell here, if you can actually sell here, my advice, for all it is worth, is don't. 

 

I sell on a daily basis at Alamy. Not aimed at anybody in particular, but if you're on Alamy for years without making a sale, perhaps one should look at his/her own collection and compare the images with what's already online. Most probably such people's images are not of equal quality, not to mention snapshots without a real, well defined SUBJECT. And I didn't even start about keywords, post-processing skills, and whatever is needed to be a ........ "(stock) photographer".

 

I notice more and more newbies (probably who come from microstock agencies) who want to earn some bucks with their photography but who haven't got the slightest idea WHAT to shoot. When I look at some pictures I very often wonder "who" would buy this to illustrate "what"? Some ports look like occupational therapy of very bored people (Oh look, an apple ..... click! Oh look, a duck in a pond... click!). No wonder they don't sell. Sorry to say, but those who don't sell only have themselves to blame. In other jobs, such people would be fired for incompetence. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

 

I thought I had made it clear that this is what I have read in stock forums. I have no control of what people say out there, and in the same time, I haven't been here long enough to know the answer to his question. I really only meant to say, that he should do his own research before going exclusive here. 

[Gennadii Rybalov]

 

 

I would not do this. From what I gather from stock forums you can go years on Alamy without making a sale; that you need time and thousands of images to build your place in line with the search engine. Until you find out which images sell here, if you can actually sell here, my advice, for all it is worth, is don't. 

 

I sell on a daily basis at Alamy. Not aimed at anybody in particular, but if you're on Alamy for years without making a sale, perhaps one should look at his/her own collection and compare the images with what's already online. Most probably such people's images are not of equal quality, not to mention snapshots without a real, well defined SUBJECT. And I didn't even start about keywords, post-processing skills, and whatever is needed to be a ........ "(stock) photographer".

 

I notice more and more newbies (probably who come from microstock agencies) who want to earn some bucks with their photography but who haven't got the slightest idea WHAT to shoot. When I look at some pictures I very often wonder "who" would buy this to illustrate "what"? Some ports look like occupational therapy of very bored people (Oh look, an apple ..... click! Oh look, a duck in a pond... click!). No wonder they don't sell. Sorry to say, but those who don't sell only have themselves to blame. In other jobs, such people would be fired for incompetence. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

 

I thought I had made it clear that this is what I have read in stock forums. I have no control of what people say out there, and in the same time, I haven't been here long enough to know the answer to his question. I really only meant to say, that he should do his own research before going exclusive here. 

 

This situation doesn't scare me!

More straining misunderstanding some of the wording and phrases, apparently because of my bad English.

For example, I know that selling images depend directly on the rankings, but still can't understand whether there is any practical displays at ALAMY or it can be understood only on the fact, that is the position when a search query.

Am I the only one month here, but already fed up with all of the intimidation that there will be no sales and interest in my work for a long time. Me is how few faze, because increasingly more important for further development. To be more precise, I am interested more in his hobby for life!

Find inspiration and feed your passion!

[MircoV]

Gennadi......

 

I dont believe there will be no sales for long time. Your photos are very good.

 

I can tell you that my photos are much simpler then yours and i made recently a sale of a very generic manhole cover and a metal fence close up. The metal fence close up brought me 220 dollars. If some people would see it they would say this subject is mega over saturated... (and yes it is... they are right). But it doesnt stop me to photograph it anyway. As you can see they bring money.

 

If i go to Berlin i will not skip photographing the Brandenburger Tor and uploading it to Alamy just because thousands others already did. I will submit it anyway.

 

The day will come that you need to capture a Poltergeist to have no competition. So better concentrate on both ...... the special photos but also dont be afraid to shoot something that is already done many and many times.

 

Everybody is welcome here .

 

Mirco

[Travelshots]

Why dont we have a newbies forum page, then all these type of enquiries can be on one site.

[Betty LaRue]

Hi Gennadii,

I think more what people are saying is that your images are good. You could make a sale tomorrow. Then again, it could be months.

If a buyer searches for an image, and you have one that fits, and yours stands out from the rest or the buyer likes the crop, perspective or whatever, of your image, you'll have a sale. It is about numbers, too. The more images in your portfolio, the better your chances one of them will come up in a search.

For instance, if you have an image of a dog biting a man and even though it is very good, it may be a month, a year, or longer before a buyer searches "dog,bites,man". Then, yours may be far back on the search pages and the buyer find one he likes before even seeing yours.

That's when CTR makes a huge difference. If your image is on the first few pages, it probably will be seen by the buyer and stands a better chance of selling. Even so, it still has to compete with everything else on those first few pages.

In other words, don't expect immediate sales, but don't be surprised if your first sale comes quick.

It's like buying a lottery ticket.

Just keep on taking excellent images, limit your similars, and concentrate on getting as many good shots into your portfolio as you can. The only thing you can control is the quality and subjects of your images.

[John Mitchell]

Good advice from Betty and Mirco. You need a lot of patience (among other things) these days.

[Gennadii Rybalov]

MircoV, Travelshots, Бетти ЛаРю, Джон Митчелл ! 

I agree with you!

Just do not understand why someone immediately attacked for no reason, and to whom.

Instead, to help or at least not interfere.

And why, in principle, as they say-"Pimp My Ride" does not help starting to do with one of my images, what moral would be a big help, not even given money, now they've got doesn't really bother, though frankly interested in, otherwise I would have not been here.

[AlessandraRC]

 

 

 

I would not do this. From what I gather from stock forums you can go years on Alamy without making a sale; that you need time and thousands of images to build your place in line with the search engine. Until you find out which images sell here, if you can actually sell here, my advice, for all it is worth, is don't. 

 

I sell on a daily basis at Alamy. Not aimed at anybody in particular, but if you're on Alamy for years without making a sale, perhaps one should look at his/her own collection and compare the images with what's already online. Most probably such people's images are not of equal quality, not to mention snapshots without a real, well defined SUBJECT. And I didn't even start about keywords, post-processing skills, and whatever is needed to be a ........ "(stock) photographer".

 

I notice more and more newbies (probably who come from microstock agencies) who want to earn some bucks with their photography but who haven't got the slightest idea WHAT to shoot. When I look at some pictures I very often wonder "who" would buy this to illustrate "what"? Some ports look like occupational therapy of very bored people (Oh look, an apple ..... click! Oh look, a duck in a pond... click!). No wonder they don't sell. Sorry to say, but those who don't sell only have themselves to blame. In other jobs, such people would be fired for incompetence. 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

 

 

I thought I had made it clear that this is what I have read in stock forums. I have no control of what people say out there, and in the same time, I haven't been here long enough to know the answer to his question. I really only meant to say, that he should do his own research before going exclusive here. 

 

This situation doesn't scare me!

More straining misunderstanding some of the wording and phrases, apparently because of my bad English.

For example, I know that selling images depend directly on the rankings, but still can't understand whether there is any practical displays at ALAMY or it can be understood only on the fact, that is the position when a search query.

Am I the only one month here, but already fed up with all of the intimidation that there will be no sales and interest in my work for a long time. Me is how few faze, because increasingly more important for further development. To be more precise, I am interested more in his hobby for life!

Find inspiration and feed your passion!

 

 

 

 

I really do not understand how sales have anything to do with rankings, and I wish some Alamy rep would step in and explain. I know that certain key words will bring my images to the front page of the query results even when there are over 1,000s of results on the same keywords, and I don't see why my ranking (which I believe is very low, I have been here for a couple of months and have under 200 images) would matter, lets say, if a customer  saw  the image and liked it.

 

I understand that there are a lot of misunderstandings out there about how Alamy works , and sometimes I see Alamy representatives stepping in to correct some misconceptions. For instance, a few people on a micro stock forum were posting the other day, that repeating key words in the various fields is penalized by Alamy's algorithm. Alamy's representative stepped in and said that no, it is not true. I do not know why there are so many misconceptions and people's perceptions about how things work here, but posting stuff as if it was the truth when one does not have a reliable source of information does not help anyone.

 

One thing I see a lot here, is people advising on the kinds of pictures that should go on the database, most likely based on the fact that they sell those kinds of images. However, Alamy itself makes absolutely no claim on which kinds of images should go on its own database, and will not bar an image because it is believed not to be sellable. If Alamy itself does not do this, should we? The fact that for example someone sells tons of images of animals in nature does not mean that a picture of "hey here is an apple" won't sell. Seldom do people come here and give a list of "my images that have never sold". I really won't browse someone's portfolio completely uninvited to say that his/her images seem to suggest that the person is bored and doesn't know what to shoot, because that person's portfolio might actually contain sellable images to someone out there. Just saying.

[CarloBo]

Just do not understand why someone immediately attacked for no reason, and to whom.

Instead, to help or at least not interfere.

 

It's just language barriers, people are vey friendly with newbies here

But the second you mention microstock some experience a sudden involuntary  contraction of  muscles, some start playing (red) darts.

 

I believe your work here is salable, i would just pay attention to some keywords. You have some selfies with keywords more suitable to 

a couple having cyber-sex? (Trying to help not to attack) 

Good luck!

[Betty LaRue]

Well said, Phillipe. (Whom I've always considered very helpful, but not afraid to call a Spade a Spade.)

[Gennadii Rybalov]

 

1) I really do not understand how sales have anything to do with rankings, and I wish some Alamy rep would step in and explain. I know that certain key words will bring my images to the front page of the query results even when there are over 1,000s of results on the same keywords, and I don't see why my ranking (which I believe is very low, I have been here for a couple of months and have under 200 images) would matter, lets say, if a customer saw the image and liked it.

 

Ranking doesn't matter? Easy to find out though whether it matters or not. Imagine you're a buyer looking for a "brick wall" picture. Search for brick wall and see where your two images land among the 178,454 other images. Clients will not look much further than the first few pages of search results. So a good ranking plays an enormous important role because it makes sure your pictures are up front and will be seen by the customer. The rules are easy though: image not seen >> no sale

 

 

2) The fact that for example someone sells tons of images of animals in nature does not mean that a picture of "hey here is an apple" won't sell.

 

First of all, I didn't target anyone in particular (Gennadii obviously takes my remarks personally but perhaps he overlooked the sentence "Not aimed at anybody in particular," .)

What I meant by "Some ports look like occupational therapy of very bored people ( Oh look, an apple .... click! Oh look, a duck in a pond .... click!)"  hasn't got anything to do with the subject itself, but HOW the image was taken. I'm referring to people who don't do any effort at all to make a pleasing picture. Don't take any attention to the background, haven't got the slightest idea what f-stop to use, don't take any notice of the light / weather conditions (some conditions are simply not suitable for certain types of shooting), don't even spend two seconds on post-processing, and whatever else is needed to achieve a good job. Hey, I think we all know when we see a good image and we all (should) know what is complete rubbish. You think I'm the only one complaining about all the dross clients have to wade through to find the little gems?

The big trouble with unedited collections is that people try out certain fields of photography of which they haven't got the slightest experience. Nothing wrong with experimenting, that's how we learn. But does that mean that those (often miserable) tryouts should all be put for sale immediately? I know what I master, and I know damn' good in what I suck. What's bad lands in my trash can, NOT on Alamy's website.

 

 

3) I really won't browse someone's portfolio completely uninvited to say that his/her images seem to suggest that the person is bored and doesn't know what to shoot, because that person's portfolio might actually contain sellable images to someone out there. Just saying.

 

I guess you also overlooked the sentence "Not aimed at anybody in particular,". But yes, I often look at people's ports with the sole purpose to help and give advice. But clearly that isn't always appreciated 'cause I have the impression some only want to hear what's up there alley and NOT the truth, the harsh reality.

 

Anyway, I shouldn't have taken the time to write all of the above. Just look at the end of each month what you've sold. That should answer clearly enough whether you're on the right track or not.

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

Philippe!

I thank you for taking your time to reply. Is that what you're saying is very much true. Just all the different approach to his work here. Not everyone has the ability to use a more successful tactics of editing and uploading. If I have for example many familiar photographers, then I would have acted differently, for example gathered all their work and uploaded under the same name, and portfolio would look differently and the impact would be different.

But unfortunately there are no sponsors, I have one in my hobbies and remains as the spin itself. Still it is necessary to understand that I do not know the language andbecause I doubly difficult. Although there is a big plus to slowly teach language, and think it is always a good thing, even in such a case.

Good luck wish, Gennady.