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Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

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    #31
    Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

    Perhaps they're keener with new joiners?
    thats what I am thinking too andy - draw you in and then make you wait

    Stan
    Stan - LRPS, CPAGB, BPE2*

    http://neptuno-photography.foliopic.com/
    flickr

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      #32
      Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

      Yeah QC is taking a bashing at the moment. As soon as its over 24 hours the folk on the forums start going nuts. I uploaded a batch yesterday and it cleared this morning. Uploaded another batch straight away, don't expect it to clear till monday. Only top contributors get the Saturday treatment :)
      Fuji X-T1 | 1D IV
      www.campsie.photography

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        #33
        Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

        I've had the same experience as Andy & Stan, first batch 24hrs, the next 5 2-3 days. It speeds things up to have a batch ready for when the previous batch passes QC.
        Russell
        Canon 7D MkII, 550D EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM, EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro, 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x III, Speedlite 600 EX-RT Speedlite 320EX
        http://www.flickr.com/photos/photorussell

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          #34
          Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

          Just checked again and they have now passed QC. Time to sort the next batch

          Stan
          Stan - LRPS, CPAGB, BPE2*

          http://neptuno-photography.foliopic.com/
          flickr

          Comment


            #35
            Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

            Originally posted by Stan View Post
            Just checked again and they have now passed QC. Time to sort the next batch

            Stan
            It gets very addictive. My first year of photography was totally consumed with adding to Alamy.
            Fuji X-T1 | 1D IV
            www.campsie.photography

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              #36
              Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

              I already find that it is taking me a lot of time firstly examining every photo at 100% + magnification to find any faults and then uploading to the site.

              Coming on to another area; how does one know that a photo has been sold? Does Alamy inform you or do you just see a credit coming into your bank or paypal account- or similar?
              Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!

              www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390

              North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!

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                #37
                Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                Nat,

                On the My Alamy drop down there is a section My Images. You can see how many searches have hit your images, whether or not the potential buyer has zoomed in them, or gone on to click through (CTR) to see the image & buy.

                You can also see which search terms lead to sales across the whole of Alamy. Useful if you're looking for keyword inspiration.
                Russell
                Canon 7D MkII, 550D EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM, EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro, 300mm f/4L IS USM, Extender EF 1.4x III, Speedlite 600 EX-RT Speedlite 320EX
                http://www.flickr.com/photos/photorussell

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                  #38
                  Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                  Thanks Russell.
                  Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!

                  www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390

                  North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                    "How do you know if your image sold"

                    This is thee most frustrating thing I find about Alamy.

                    General sales can show up right away. However there is a refund period on all sales. Meaning the sale could show up then be refunded. Happens to some people. The bigger sales it seems, coming from the forums, is usually book publishers.

                    News
                    This is where it gets a little frustrating for me.
                    If you opt into the newspaper scheme, you are opening your images up to a wealth of possibility in sales. You don't need model or property releases for these sales. The sales are a lot lower than expected and a lot lower than the average book or magazine sale.

                    I regularly submit to the 'News Feed' which for me is an exciting aspect to Alamy. I've sold some stuff to the Guardian, The Daily Mail, The express, The Daily Record and The Telegraph. These direct sales from the News Feed go for a higher amount than normal newspaper scheme sales, however, only for 48 hours then your images go into the stock area.

                    These images bypass QC all together and go straight into the 'My Images' area where you can keyword them. I leave it for the 48 hours and then do my keywording bit on them usually.

                    For instance;

                    A sale via the news feed in February sold twice for multiple uses. $59 each use.
                    A newspaper scheme sale months later went for $12.

                    There has been much debate over these prices and the rate on which they are falling however, the whole industry moves around so quick it's hard to keep up with it all.

                    As I say that controversial aspect is tied to the newspaper scheme and the news images. You might be quite happy in it or not.

                    I haven't made any large book sales yet, however, that's mainly because about 70% of my 1053 images have no releases.

                    If you don't have any releases, Model or Property, then your image can only be sold under an editorial license and only via RM. This does limit your potential buyers, however, it's up to the buyer. If in doubt try to get releases for your images. It will be better in the long run, however, people find great success not needing them.

                    Back on the point of checkign for sold images. I reverse search my zoomed images in My Alamy in google. By using the image search plugin for Google Chrome you can right click your images that have been zoomed and search google for this image. It can show the site that has used the image.

                    Searching "your name" /alamy in google, images & books can be helpful too. Most people tag the used image with these credit lines so sometimes it's easy to find.

                    Paul
                    Fuji X-T1 | 1D IV
                    www.campsie.photography

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                      #40
                      Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                      Why zoomed images?

                      There's a theory that there is a sale for every 3-4 zooms you get. A zoom is very important to people. I don't fin don't find it very important at all. Only sales do me any good. I think of it all like this;

                      View - Someone walking about a store filled with shoes.
                      Zoom - They picked up a shoe they kind of liked
                      Sale - walked out with your shoes and no-one elses.

                      CTR is a complex ranking based on the ratio of views, zooms and sales. No-one understands it, however, it's the measure of how alamy place your images in searches. Higher the rank, the higher the image in the search results.

                      Searching for Zoomed images can be helpful because sometimes the zoom is all the evidence of a sale that you would get until it appeared in your account.

                      Newspapers can buy an image and not need to report that image use for 3-9 months. So documenting when you notice a sale can be important.

                      I have never experienced a straight forward book sale and have it appear right away, but it doesn't mean you guys won't. It all depends on the portfolio and your target market.

                      A landscape travel photographer will do very well with book sales.
                      A wildlife photographer can do very well with seasonal calendar sales
                      A journalist will be very busy selling loads but nothing huge, unless a plane landed in their backyard and they were the only person that got the shot.
                      Fuji X-T1 | 1D IV
                      www.campsie.photography

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                        #41
                        Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                        Anyone know of a free LR plugin to export directly to Alamy, like the Flickr or FB ones that come with it?
                        TS-E17 F4L, 70-300L, 100 F2.8L Macro. http://www.flickr.com/photos/waynelsworth/

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                          #42
                          Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                          Originally posted by Wayne Els View Post
                          Anyone know of a free LR plugin to export directly to Alamy, like the Flickr or FB ones that come with it?
                          I think a lot of people use this one Wayne.

                          Fuji X-T1 | 1D IV
                          www.campsie.photography

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                            #43
                            Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                            Cheers Paul. I'll give it a whirl, it's obvious I need to stick a lot more shots up if I'm going to get anywhere with it so now that I have a better lappy I will try and get into it a bit more when I'm away.
                            TS-E17 F4L, 70-300L, 100 F2.8L Macro. http://www.flickr.com/photos/waynelsworth/

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                              #44
                              Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                              Great post Paul. Thank you so much for the time you took to write this, it has made the prospect a little less scary!
                              Garry Macdonald on Flickr
                              Garry Macdonald on Facebook

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                                #45
                                Re: Alamy - Getting started and what to expect

                                Just had my first attempt pass QC. Will be busy loading and key wording for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the guide Paul, I'd looked previously at stock agencies but found it all rather intimidating.

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