alamy content

[constantine_papp]

hello everyone i am new to alamy i registered two months ago but i only discovered the foroum a couple days ago.all this time i thought alamy was a dead stock site and why i thought that?1)alamy's quality controt has much lower standarts than the microstock stock sites i sell my images.2)there are plenty of macrostock sites with high quality standarts 3)i dint find a reason why anyone will buy my images when he can buy them for a small price at microstock 4)RF rights seem better choice to a potential buyer cause it is much cheaper and more flexible. After reading multiple posts on this foroum i think that maybe i am wrong and i should give this site a try cause i prefer to sell once every two months a photo for 20-50$ than selling my work for 20c multiple times per day.So i need some advice about what content should i post here and if i should post exclusive content that i dont post on microstock.is it wise to post the same images on both sites or i should divide them to RM material and Rf material?if that is the case how to make that choice with which criteria?my port here is awful on size and quality cause i post images i post on microstock sites(there they sell well) and also i am not a good photographer yet i am new but i have passion and i am willing to work hard.Please if you can give me some advice and please dont give me harsh comments about my port cause it doesnt reflect my skills yet i just posted random images!

[Brasilnut]

Hi Constantine,

 

I believe we have exchanged a few words on the forum of a major MS site. Welcome to Alamy.

 

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So i need some advice about what content should i post here and if i should post exclusive content that i dont post on microstock.is it wise to post the same images on both sites or i should divide them to RM material and Rf material?

 

This has been covered extensively on this forum, a quick search will yield many results. Personally, it all depends on the perceived value of your images. I'm of the opinion that "premium" images should not be duplicated on Micros.

 

As for what sells on Alamy...well, you're from Greece, I presume? If you capture some editorials about the current economic and political situation in your country, it may do well on here, assuming it's captioned and keyworded to a high level. Could even be as simple as homeless people sleeping on park benches. That's just one example...think about what is going on in Greece that may be interested for editorial clients to pick up on in their publications. 

 

Good you're willing to work hard. Alamy is very different to MS, you will have to wait longer to have sales.  

 

Good luck!

 

Alex

 

 

[constantine_papp]

hey man i remember you from the other microstock site nice to see you here,so do you think that editorial content is the alamy's niche?do common stock photos like medication isolated objects etc sell here? 

[constantine_papp]

and also another question do you sell your images on alamy as rf or rm?what do you prefer and what sells the best

[Brasilnut]

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do you think that editorial content is the alamy's niche?do common stock photos like medication isolated objects etc sell here? 

 

Absolutely. Alamy's client base is predominately editorial. I don't know if such isolated would do well on here but there's no harm in duplicating them on both (I believe). If you're embedding metadata into the images from LR/PS then it's not really any extra work.

 

If you're serious about Alamy you will want to soon start focusing on editorial images and keywording them to a high standard according to Alamy's best practises. 

 

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and also another question do you sell your images on alamy as rf or rm?what do you prefer and what sells the best

 

It appears that there isn't that much difference anymore between RF or RM on Alamy in terms of royalties and also usage rights, which is interesting.

 

I prefer RM, as it offers more protection when chasing infringements and opportunities for repeat licenses after expiration which can be highly lucrative. In addition, traditionally one of the big benefits of RM is the option of exclusivity but that's really so rare.

 

However, no doubt that most clients refer RF and I'm increasingly leaning towards licensing my images as RF on here. At the moment it's about 50/50 RM/RF but RF will be a majority soon. It's a personal choice, lots of guys on here license only RM and that's cool if it works for them. I'm still a newbie on Alamy and don't have that many licenses yet, still learning the ropes. Some more experienced guys on here may be able to advise you better on how to obtain consistent sales on here. 

[John Mitchell]

" 1)alamy's quality controt has much lower standarts than the microstock stock sites i sell my images. "

 

Not really a fair comparison. Alamy's QC looks at only the technical aspects of images, not their content.

[constantine_papp]

thank you for your replies so if rm and rf give pretty much the same royalties isnt it better to sell rf multiple times per image?About the quality control i undastand that it is not a fair comparison but for example i have 2 rejects and almost 500 approved.on a microstock site i have almost 200 rejects for the same number.i just thought that as a midstock site it would be hard to be approved

[Johnnie5]

Hi Constantine, I was looking through your images and noticed right away that you don't have specific locations and names of buildings in the captions on many of your outdoor photos.  You might try adding that info in the keywords and caption to make them more likely to sell.

[constantine_papp]

thank you for your tip i will do that the last two month i just uploaded things i upload on microstock here and sometimes i didnt even choose categories i keyword my images from lightroom.thanks for your reply!

[losdemas]

9 hours ago, constantine_papp said:

thank you for your replies so if rm and rf give pretty much the same royalties isnt it better to sell rf multiple times per image?About the quality control i undastand that it is not a fair comparison but for example i have 2 rejects and almost 500 approved.on a microstock site i have almost 200 rejects for the same number.i just thought that as a midstock site it would be hard to be approved

 

1. They don't.
2. As has already been explained, Alamy QC accepts or rejects on technical standards alone. This is their USP - they are thus able to house a huge variety of images which other agencies class as unsaleable - or rather, not suitable for their marketplace. Alamy sells huge quantities of these images. 

[constantine_papp]

1 hour ago, losdemas said:

 

1. They don't.
2. As has already been explained, Alamy QC accepts or rejects on technical standards alone. This is their USP - they are thus able to house a huge variety of images which other agencies class as unsaleable - or rather, not suitable for their marketplace. Alamy sells huge quantities of these images. 

thank you very much for your reply one last thing can you explain more things on the 1(rf rm earning) for example is there a page when i can see how much to expect from every rf or rm sale (average) also some advice about which photos is best to be rm and which rf for example your editorial photos what do you prefer rm or rf

[Cryptoprocta]

^^ Don't expect the amount it says on the file page. Many sales are heavily discounted to buyers.

I don't think there is anywhere you can see any average expecations. E.g. my files seem to appeal to those with deep discounts, but I see reports from others of much higher sales.

[Joseph Clemson]

12 hours ago, constantine_papp said:

thank you for your replies so if rm and rf give pretty much the same royalties isnt it better to sell rf multiple times per image?About the quality control i undastand that it is not a fair comparison but for example i have 2 rejects and almost 500 approved.on a microstock site i have almost 200 rejects for the same number.i just thought that as a midstock site it would be hard to be approved

 

Hello,

 

I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how Alamy's QC operates. With most microstock agencies, every image is inspected for both technical quality and subject matter,  and often, keywords too. Thus the responsibility for the quality of accepted images lies ultimately with the agency.

 

Alamy works in a different way. The responsibility for the technical quality, subject and keywords rests entirely with the contributor. Alamy operates on the understanding that contributors will produce, submit, caption and keyword images to professional standards, even if the contributor in not actually a professional photographer.  The only control Alamy exercise over the freedom they give to the contributor is to check the technical quality of a small sample of every submission. If this sample fails their quality check, it calls into question the other images being submitted by that contributor and so they suspend uploading privileges to give the contributor the opportunity to examine their workflow and their other images and see where they are going wrong.

 

Sometimes new contributors interpret this approach to QC as being a more lax approach to quality by Alamy, as it is possible (with luck) to get sub-standard images through QC. This is however, a false hope, as sooner or later, the submission of sub-standard images leads to a QC failure and a ban from uploading. Repeat offences lead to longer bans and closer scrutiny of subsequent submissions.

 

In summary, as regards technical matters, it is just as hard to get images accepted on Alamy as it is on microstock, though the sub-standard contributor might not immediately realise it as they ride their luck. As regards the subject matter, captioning and the keywords, Alamy relies on the professionalism and integrity of the contributor to do the right thing. This is why long-standing contributors get very agitated about poorly captioned and keyworded images and will often point out such errors when they see them.