Help Regarding Similars please

[skylineboy]

hi,

 

relatively new to the stock world and alamy, well lets say the new "internet" stock world anyway. 

 

i've seen posts on other threads and people say to newbies that they have too many similars.

 

im wondering what is classed as a similar?

 

most of my images will be motor based, including motorsport and anything from cars to planes etc, transportation really.

 

and when i shoot, i try and cover as much of the transportation type as possible, eg minimum of 4-6 exterior shots, then interior and then any details which could run into the dozens. so i have some that are a single photo of say a plane taking off, but then if i have it "captive" and grounded i could take 50!

 

times this by say 100 cars or planes, im gonna have 100 interiors for example

 

would these be classed as similars for alamy reasons? or would they be similars IF i DIDNT give make models etc to them, eg to differentiate the interiors of these by class or by year etc.

 

thanks

 

dan

[losdemas]

Different folk have varying opinions on this and will be able to offer a better definition, according to experience here, but I would say...

 

Images which are taken from the same or similar viewpoint and lighting with only slight variation in angle/dof/background etc.  You have lots of similars.  Just taking the first couple of rows as an example, E6ADX3 and E6AE62 are too similar to be uploaded together.  Similarly, E6AE85 and E6AE8N: one could just be rotated (steering wheel not obvious enough to be an issue).  At the bottom of the page, the photos of the Porsche Cayman are even more repetitive: from E3W41N to E3W42M you have 18 images which should maybe be trimmed down to 2 or 3?

 

Too many similars will result in searches bringing up many results and a low ctr, which affects your ranking. If you end up getting from a low rank here - for whatever reason - then your sales will suffer (I speak from experience)!

 

What you could do is to keep your best 2-6 shots per viewpoint in your prime pseudonym and put the rest which you still regard as relevant and potential sellers in a separate pseudonym.  Best of luck.

[Alexandre Fagundes]

skylineboy, I took the liberty to look at your portfolio.

I see sets of images of cars, they are similar if you will, because they are the same car with the same background, but different angles, I think the buyers will like that, so they can actually purchase the photo that is perfect for what he needs.

There are some exceptions, though, images E5CFTN and E5CFJW, either they are the same image you uploaded twice or I would definitely consider those similars.

E3N721, E3N722 and E3N725 I would consider also

E3N73G, E3N73J and E3N73K same thing.

DF2DF7 and DF2E4 are almost the same.

I think those are images that are not adding any new thing for your buyer, so I would simply choose the best of them and let the others go.

Anyway, just my opinion, best luck with your sales.

Beautiful cars and beautiful pictures, by the way!

[dustydingo]

In terms of potential effect on rank, which has a strong correlation to sales in the opinion of most, before worrying about similars, I'd suggest to the OP they read some threads here concerning keywords, then review theirs . . .

 

dd

[Bryan]

There is no hard and fast rule, different markets/editors may require different types of shots, while we are talking about a balance between having an attractive and varied offering in the market place and the possible negative effect on rank.

 

If you upload a series of very similar shots you risk not getting through QC, as "excessive similars" is a cause for failure. "Series of similar images with almost identical compositions or only slight differences"

 

As others have pointed out, you do have some pairs of very similar shots which probably do nothing to help your cause, but you are also providing a good spread of different images that could find a market.

 

I would suggest some selective pruning, nothing too dramatic!  

 

(A case of physician, heal thyself here - My collection could do with a good purging!)

[skylineboy]

thanks guys,

 

particularly GS-images, really seems to make sense with the keywording, especially as you pointed out the context in which i would either benefit or fail from buyer searches.

 

i think a good prune may be in  order! 

 

as for the general scope of my port, i think it just needs adjusting for alamy really, as you guys have pointed out.

 

usually my specific buyers for these images like to have as many angles etc as possible for the transportation i shoot, as it gives them chance to include a main image with lots of detailed around it (i used to lose calendar buyers because i only took mainly exterior and interior shots). when they wanted details of wheels, and even tiny lil areas you maybe wouldnt even notice even if you lived with that car day-to-day lol. so i adjusted and sales came in, and i was thanked for going the extra mile so to speak.

 

but now it seems my original pared back view is what alamy needs and would help my sales, i shall go away and have a think on what angles / views offer a "story" and something that would be used, and trim back the excess.

 

thanks again for the help, really appreciated, especially as what i have on live at the moment is only a fraction of what i have available, so better to know this now / early!

 

Dan

[skylineboy]

thanks philippe!

 

i was just wondering the same about the zoomed in images, so ill cull them ones too, if clients crop as needed.

 

i take it clients can also rotate, flip and do other "basic" edits? which may cut down on my similars also (as i have a good few facing left, then right etc). is there a link or info to what clients can actually do to our images.. or is this between them and alamy.

[skylineboy]

green'ed!