Jill Morgan Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 When searching through cut outs, I notice that some will have the main subject in a bottom corner and the rest of the frame is just white background, about 50-75% of the image. Is this okay with Alamy? I have uploaded one cutout but have some more I would like to do, but sticking to the original size of the photo, the actual subject would only be 25-40% of the final picture, and the removed background the rest. I want to be sure this follows all the guidelines. Are there any strict rules anywhere about cut outs? Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Alamy doesn't tell contributors how to frame images, be they cutouts or not. I'm sure Alamy and most buyers would like to be left the option to crop an image to fit a specific space in a layout. So for stock, leaving a bit of space around a subject is usually a good idea. This takes a somewhat different mindset than fine-art photography, where the shooter does not encourage cropping or changes and is shooting for prints. Do I always follow this approach when framing for stock. Well . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Having said what I said above, I went and looked at my images that have sold since I've been with Alamy. Very few of of these could be cropped; none were. So go figure. I still think leaving room for the buyer to crop (especially with cutouts) is a valid idea in stock . . . but history tells me that I don't normally work that way. I'm intuitive, rather than academic. When shooting, I'm looking for the moment, trying to be a step ahead of the moment. No one has ever accused me of being a practical person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 My theory is that if the white background is smaller, the picture would no longer meet Alamy's size standards if it was cropped down.I don't know if I am allowed to link to other photographer's images. But the one I found, 75% of the image is white background. I assumed this was because if it was cropped at all, then it wouldn't pass QC based on size. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Todd Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Hmmmmm....... not sure if my ramblings make sense A bit difficult for me to explain in English Cheers, Philippe Makes perfect sense Philippe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I can't see any point in leaving loads of space around a cutout - they don't need to be cropped if the background is truly white (or black) I have noticed that if there is too little space around the image, it isn't always picked up by the automatic cutout detector at Alamy, so a good border is best. And the bigger the image, the clearer it is in the thumbnail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 I don't know if I am explaining myself correctly. Say you have an image with a cow in a pasture and you want to do a cut out of the cow and upload it. When you remove all the background, and just have the cow, then the cow on its own is too small to pass Alamy's size restrictions. It would not make it through QC. But if you add the full background (in white of course) then it will pass the size restrictions. This is my quandry. Does Alamy have any rules and regulations about the amount of white space in an image's background? Do cut outs have separate rules? I hope I have explained what it is I am looking for. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Hmmmmm....... not sure if my ramblings make sense A bit difficult for me to explain in English Cheers, Philippe Makes perfect sense Philippe To me as well. Clearer than what I was saying, but then I wasn't really talking about cutouts . . . and I'm an English language professional. That is I've worked as a copy editor. Want proof? There should be a comma after "sense" before "Philippe," Alex. It's called the direct address comma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Todd Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Ed Rooney, on 12 Aug 2013 - 23:45, said: Alex Todd, on 12 Aug 2013 - 21:48, said: arterra, on 12 Aug 2013 - 19:27, said: Hmmmmm....... not sure if my ramblings make sense A bit difficult for me to explain in English Cheers, Philippe Makes perfect sense Philippe To me as well. Clearer than what I was saying, but then I wasn't really talking about cutouts . . . and I'm an English language professional. That is I've worked as a copy editor. Want proof? There should be a comma after "sense" before "Philippe," Alex. It's called the direct address comma. Thanks Ed, I know there should be a comma there but I tend to get lazy when I'm typing on forums in this digital age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I don't know if I am explaining myself correctly. Say you have an image with a cow in a pasture and you want to do a cut out of the cow and upload it. When you remove all the background, and just have the cow, then the cow on its own is too small to pass Alamy's size restrictions. It would not make it through QC. But if you add the full background (in white of course) then it will pass the size restrictions. This is my quandry. Does Alamy have any rules and regulations about the amount of white space in an image's background? Do cut outs have separate rules? I hope I have explained what it is I am looking for. Jill Aha, now I know what you mean Most subjects - like the ones I showed - are directly photographed on a white background. A "cutout" doesn't necessarily mean that you have to do the cut out, like extracting a cow from its pasture. So, to answer your question "Does Alamy have any rules and regulations about the amount of white space in an image's background? Do cut outs have separate rules?" No, they don't. They don't care about the layout. You can have as much white space as you want. No restrictions there. But with the current prices, you have to figure out if its worth the trouble to make such a cutout. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially with furry animals. Could be quite time consuming to do it properly Don't forget you have to compete against these guys: Joel Sartore Eric Isselee Brad Wilson Cheers, Philippe Thanks for those links, Philippe. I really enjoy looking at those sorts of images but the fun for me is being with the animals where they live. Very thrilling. Many years ago I saw the exhibit at the International Center for Photography in New York of James Balog's studio work with endangered animals. http://jamesbalog.com/portfolio/endangered-wildlife/ Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 Thanks Phillipe: Some things are too difficult, (such as a cow) to bring indoors for stodio work. And I do enjoy practicing my cut out techniques. I did upload a cutout I did of an elephant that I actually had in my keywording post in another thread. I don't see doing small images surrounded by tons of white space, but if you have a subject that is tall but thin, then you would run in to those issues. Thanks so much for the insight everyone. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CM photo Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Hmmmmm....... not sure if my ramblings make sense A bit difficult for me to explain in English Cheers, Philippe Makes perfect sense Philippe To me as well. Clearer than what I was saying, but then I wasn't really talking about cutouts . . . and I'm an English language professional. That is I've worked as a copy editor. Want proof? There should be a comma after "sense" before "Philippe," Alex. It's called the direct address comma. Well, if we're talking grammar, Ed, your first sentence has no verb. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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