#keywording services

In today’s fast moving world, no one has the time to wait for a photographer, choose the right location, get models, pay them a high price and also wait for months to have a campaign or advertisement start. Most of the companies use Stock Photography Sites to find photos as per their needs and start with the campaign. This works much faster and also saves a huge amount.

But what companies use Stock Photos? Not all companies use Stock Photos. There are specific companies who increase the bar of Stock Photos by buying them, either through Micro Stock Photography Sites or Stock Photography Sites.

Advertising Agencies use stock photography in national consumer ads, which appear in publications circulated among the general public and trade ads, which appear in publications directed at a particular industry. Advertising agencies need to have multiple print runs and therefore, the license they choose for Rights – Managed License. This helps them having a large amount of print run.

Corporations are also the ones who need Stock Photos. They are very particular about what they select as these will be published and sent to their shareholders and Board of Directors. Any wrong photo can hamper the image at large. Corporations use images in creating their annual reports, in brochures, and in internal magazines.

The Editorial Market is probably the biggest and most diverse group of clients, ranging from top magazines such as National Geographic and Sports Illustrated to the thousands of smaller publishing houses which produce regional and special interest magazines. It also includes the publishers of trade books, textbooks, and newspapers. Top houses are ones who usually prefer buying staff photographers, whereas,  the smaller operations are continually revising, updating, and putting together new layouts, new issues, new editions, new publication projects, and new or updated CD-ROMS and Web sites. These projects are largely filled using stock images, licensed with both royalty-free and rights managed contracts. These licenses help them having the benefit of having print runs and less payment.

Last, but not least, there are hundreds of Auxiliary Markets, which use stock photography for any number of purposes, such as in creating calendars, greeting cards, checkbooks, and T-shirts.

There was a time, where Stock Photography was a small industry and not many people preferred buying Stock Photos. Also, there was a time when professional photographers, advertisers and commercial publishers disregarded Stock Photography as a market. But today, everyone who wants to buy photos, are on Stock Photography Sites like Getty Images, Istock, ShutterStock etc.

If today Stock Photography is in market, it is entirely due to the internet that is growing and the various new technologies are coming up every day.

“Hey that’s me!!!!”

How awkward does it seem for a person to see her photo out of nowhere used for an advertisement, or put up on a billboard?

In such circumstances, a model not knowing that her photos will be used for promotion, can sue the photographer for using her photos without informing her or him about the same. To avoid such circumstances, it is important to have a model release done.

When submitting a photo to a micro stock agency, an agency will generally require a model release when:

1.       A person is pertinent to the image in some way, and;

2.       A person could conceivably in any way identify themselves in the photo.

Model releases for each person in a photo must be dated and witnessed, and a copy submitted with each photo.

Most of the photographers have this question in mind as to do they need to have Model Release done for children below the age of 18?

The answer is Yes…

In case a child who is below the age of 18 and is present in the photo and easily recognizable, it is important for the photographer to get a Model Release signed by their parents or guardian. Even parents and guardian consent is required in order to have a Model Release of a child done.

For example, id a child is being shot playing soccer and the photographer wants to use that image for commercial purpose, it is necessary for him to consult his parents or guardians and get their signature on the contract so that no future conflicts arise.

There are many Stock Photography agencies who don’t accept images if Model Release is not signed under the notice of some witness for a child below 18 years of age.. So basically, Stock Photography Sites are very particular in accepting what they want to accept and what they can’t accept.

Similarly, even Property Release is important. For Property Release, it is very simple.

Stock Photography is something which is not accepted in one go… It is rejected 10 times and then accepted once. There are very few photographers who have their photos selected at one go. And they are the ones who take the most care while having their photos retouched or while having their shoots.

Successful stock photos earn money over and over. While it is nice to license an image once or twice, it’s even better when an image licenses many times. Buyers have a choice of thousands of images from which he selects one and then picks the one which he loved the most.

It is possible that the photo that the buyer chose can be yours, unless you have the perfect photo. Creating or shooting a perfect photo is not at all difficult unless you have certain things in mind while shooting them.

The points that you can keep in mind while shooting photos for having a perfect successful Stock photo are as follows:-

Clear Theme:-

It is very important that you have a clear theme. Unless your photos don’t pass on the message, your photos will have no way in the market. For having photos in the market it is important to have the theme set and the main message that a photographer wants to convey to its audience.

2.       Your photos should make people BELIEVE what you have done:-

Trust of client is very important. Unless you don’t make your client believe what you have shot, it is difficult for the client to buy your photo. But you can’t go to every client and tell them the story behind you photo and convince them to believe you. You will have to convince your clients with the help of your photos only. Yeah, photo retouching will be done. But over retouching will hamper the photo and your photo will get ruined.

3.       Reality:-

Shoot realistic photos. No client will believe if you shoot a person sitting on a lion and smiling and enjoying the “LION RIDE”. Buyers want a photo which looks real and not fake. It is clearly evident that the photo of a person sitting on a lion is enjoying and happy is made through Photoshop and not a reality. Always, give the buyers an image which is real and easy to believe.

4.       Broad Appeal:-

The goal for every stock photo is that it has broad appeal and sells many times to a diverse client base with different needs and goals. With a strong story or theme that can carry across diverse concepts, a variety of clients might use the same image for completely different messages. The idea is to capture images where a wide spectrum of clients finds that the image states their message.

5.       Don’t Rush:-

Don’t rush and take photos that you liked. Always think before taking photo and keep certain elements in mind like framing, focus, composition, noise, lighting, and keyword selection. Plan ahead; visualize the scene beforehand and take a couple of test shots.

6.       People:-

Shots with people generally sell better than shots without people. Photos with people are more important when you are shooting a recreational activity. The challenge is to show genuine human interaction and make your subjects look natural an unposed. Choose clothing and accessories that are appropriate for the situation. For instance, with hiking photos, I like to use solid colors that contrast with the surroundings to help draw attention to the people.

7.       Attractive Scene:-

Whether it is a mountainous landscape, the beach, or a kitchen, or any other place for that matter, you want your images to be visually stimulating -- something that grabs the viewer. Having an intriguing setting is the icing on the cake if the other points are met. It will set your image apart from others and make it highly saleable.

Photo Keywording is a process which involves assigning keywords to an image to help the customer narrow down his search to a particular theme. These may include different types of descriptions, subject, concepts, ethnicity, occupations, objects, etc.

A good Keywording system takes time and thought and cannot be constructed in haphazard fashion with expectations of great results. If you create and apply keywords well, the result is faster, more fruitful file searches.

For companies selling images, Keywording is the critical link between images and sales. If the customer gets the right word then your sales boosts up. But if he gets a wrong word, you may loose on your sales. So it is very important to have Keywording done on every image. Most online photo sharing sites, search engines, and web galleries use keyword recognition to help people find images.

Certain things to see while outsourcing key wording services are:-

1.       Accuracy and Precision:-

The title of the image should be accurate and specific.  The title should describe the image easily and shouldn’t be different from what the picture is denoting. Also, the title should be brief, accurate and brief.

2.       Use general terms:-

It is necessary to use general terms or common terms when you go for key wording. Also, include photos main subject in general terms. Also, one must make sure that they don’t repeat words in order to increase their searches.

3.       Description:-

The description of the file should be written to provide the client with any extra information they may need to know which is not provided by the title and keywords. You may include information about where, when, and how the image was created. In some cases - artwork in the public domain for instance – you must also include additional information describing the content and its copyright-free status. Many contributors like to use the description field to link other images or light boxes that clients might find useful. As long as the description includes the important information described above, these links and banners are perfectly acceptable by Stock Photography companies.

4.       Keywords:-

Keywords are the most important tool for getting your images found by the people who want to license them. The key to effective keywording is to use all the terms – and only the terms – that are clearly conveyed by the content and context of the image. When keywording your files, take care to include terms that describe the main content, what it's doing, where it is, what concepts it conveys in your image, and how the image is composed. Keywording is a huge topic you can read more specifics.

When I gave key wording services of my photos to KeyIndia Graphics, the work they did satisfied me a lot. Also, they promised a date and I got the key worded photos on that particular day. I can trust KeyIndia Graphics for its services.

While submitting certain photos to various Stock Photography Sites, I noticed that my photos were being rejected. I tried several times, but they never got accepted. I then showed the photos to my friend who submits his photos often on Stock Photography Sites. He told me that my photos need to be retouched and I should outsource photo retouching services so that I can concentrate on my various other assignments.

The first thing on outsourcing photo retouching services that came to my mind was why should I do that? And what is the assurance that my photos are going in safe hands? And since these photos are going to be uploaded on Stock Photography Sites, what kind of retouching will be required?

With lots of research I got my answer.

1. Focus:-

Retouching does not only mean retouching the flaws in the photo. But it also means where the photographer wants the focus on. What and how much should be in focus depends on the kind of image. In a straight-on portrait, it's important to have clear focus on the eyes. Stationary objects are different from fashion shots, all of which are very different from sports images. Any kind of texture needs to be absolutely tack-sharp with sufficient depth of field from corner to corner. Basically, what is important is to identify the important elements and make good decisions about how to treat them.

2. Lighting issues:-

Photos that you submit for Stock Photography Sites must be well lit and properly exposed. This makes them useful in the most possible situations. Flat light, bad shadows, and poor exposure are all serious flaws in a photo and will not be accepted. Light comes from a variety of sources – sometimes you can control them and sometimes you cannot and have to work with what you've got. In all cases you need to see whether you retouch all the lighting's in order to get the photo selected by Stock Retouching Services.

3. Technical and Composition Problems:-

Technical and Composition Problems refer that you've gone too far with some kind of editing or processing technique. Selective blurring of people's faces and sloppy editing of logos and banners can also lead to over-filtering. While retouching one should take care that no such flaws take place and the Stock Photography Sites get a photo which has no Technical and Composition Problems.

4. Logos, Trademark and Intellectual Property:-

Logos, trademarks, company names, and product names are not acceptable by Stock Photography Sites and must be removed from all images uploaded. This includes logos or company brands accompanied by a property release, as Stock Photography Sites simply cannot control end use to the degree required in this area.

5. Price:-

For a photographer to do the retouching work on his own will cost a lot more than it will by outsourcing retouching services. To have the retouches done by a photographer himself will lead him to compromise on certain shoots where he can lose more money than by outsourcing retouching services. Companies that provide retouching services are inexpensive and affordable for any photographer.

Why outsource retouching services to India?

Since the process of photo retouching service is not so simple and requires immense expertise, it is considered wise to outsource the work to some experienced organizations, which are engaged in offering the service efficiency. India has remarkably produced various companies that are performing exceptionally well in the industry and offering highly reliable services to worldwide clients. Some of the benefits for outsourcing the work to India are, Timely completion of projects, Benefit of time zone difference for international companies, Availability of multi payment options, Companies can also reserve some exclusive resources for specific jobs, Customized services and Cost effective solutions.

There are various companies where clients can log in and place the order online. They can provide these companies with the photographs in any format and get it delivered back in the desired format as well. In the recent years, various companies from India have carved a niche in the industry for offering highly reliable photo retouching solutions with complete efficacy and precision.

I personally had the issue of having my photo retouching done, when one of my friends suggested me to try the services of KeyIndia Graphics and I am very happy to have their services. The quality and consistency of their work is trust able and also is inexpensive.

Every Stock Photography Site wants those images that are good and appealing to the buyers who visit their sites for photos. No Stock Photography Site would like to have a photo which is not good and appealing.

The two main things for a photographer to have its photos being selected by Stock Photography Sites approved are the Photo retouching and Keywording.

When we talk about Photo retouching the first thing that comes to our minds is to remove the flaws present in the photo. Photo retouching is the only way where all the flaws in a photo can be removed and provide a flawless photo. In case of a model in the photo, the spots, dark circles, etc can be hidden by the way of the Photo retouching. Background Change is also a part of Photo retouching.

Photo retouching is necessitated when there are a lot of objects that hamper the subject's appearance in a photo. By using effective Photo retouching techniques such as facial retouching, reducing shadows, increase colorization, skin airbrushing, face makeover etc. one can hope to make the photo appear brighter and with sufficient contrast to please the eyes of the onlooker. Adjusting depth of a field, darkening the corner of a photo and color correction are some of the most frequently used Photo retouching mechanisms to ensure that the photo looks boosted and superior.

Another important aspect of photos being selected by Stock Photography is Keywording.

No buyer will be able to find your photos unless you have proper keywording done. Keywording helps the buyer find the appropriate photo choices by the keywords he enters. If no proper keywording is done, your photos will never be accepted. Stock Photography Sites are vigilant while selecting photos for their sites. They do not accept those photos which have flaws in them and no proper keywording is done.

Buyers search for photos using search engines and agencies using keywords. If they can't find your photos they can't buy them. It's that simple. Good keywording is time consuming but consider this - a good stock photo can sell for many years.

But no photographer has the time to do the photo retouching and key wording done by them. What they do is outsource these services from various companies. The company to who I recently gave my photos for editing and key wording is KeyIndia Graphics. The services they provide is good and also guarantee a stipulate time for your photo editing and key wording. They make sure that the work is done within the time frame and also provide quality.

In the entire world of Photography most of the photographers submit their photos online on Stock Photography Sites and wait for the approval of their photos. For a photographer who is always giving his photos for Stock Photography Sites to sell know what to do and how to do. But the new photographers find it difficult to submit their photos and getting them accepted.

Here are a few questions for the new photographers to ask themselves before giving their photos for submission and getting them approved.

1.      Know the Site:-

Every photographer needs to know the Stock Photography website entirely along with its rules and regulations before submitting the photos. Sending photos to a Stock Photography site you studied is way better than sending photos to a Stock Photography site which you have just heard about and not studied.

2.       Choose the Right Topic:-

It is very important that you have the right topic for your photos and the right subject. For every photographer, before going shooting, it is important to know what kind of photos are in demand in the market and what the categories that a Stock Photography website is lacking of are. Here there are fewer chances for your photo getting rejected by Stock Photography website which automatically increases the chances of your photos getting selected.

3.       Model Release:-

Most of the photographers have models in their photos and some are good at shooting only locations. The ones who shoot with models, it is necessary for them to have model release done so that no future problems arise in the future. Certain Stock Photography websites ask for Model Releases and accept photos only if Model Releases are done. There are certain models who don’t mind their photos being used. Whenever the photographers have a doubt of having issues being raised, it is better to have Model Releases done.

4.       Got Photo Retouching done:-

It is very important that you have your photos retouched and properly edited before submitting the photos to a Stock Photography website. A good photography increases the chances of your photos being selected. While having photo retouching done, you need to be sure that you have the proper balance among the colors. Also the sharpness of the photo should be even. All these factors will help your photo look good and appealing.

5.       Got Keywording done:-

It is necessary to have key wording done so that your photos are easily searched and viewed by the buyers. Stock Photography companies look for the photos that are key worded as per the photo and have the right keywords used. Any irrelevant keyword reduces the chance of having your photo being selected by Stock Photography Websites.

6.       Logos and Trademarks:-

For buyers having select photos online on Stock Photography websites is very difficult as they need the right photos and the best ones. The number of choices that a buyer gets is huge and selecting one amongst the best becomes very difficult. Also, these photos are not free that he can download the ones he like and then decide on one.

The ones who buy photos from Stock Photography Sites know which photo is the best and don’t take much time in deciding which photo to buy. But what about the new buyers who wish to buy photos from Stock Photography sites?

Here are certain things that a buyer can see while searching for the best photos.

1.      Understand the need of the photo:-

It is very important for a buyer to understand the need of buying a photo. He should be clear enough as to he is buying the photo for what purpose and accordingly decide to go for Stock Photography Sites or Micro Stock Photography Sites.

2.       Choose the photo that defines your purpose:-

Since you are paying for a photo, it is very important for a buyer to understand whether the photo itself is depicting a story or no. If a photo is not depicting a story, then it is waste for you to pay for that photo and buy the photo. The photo should fit as per your purpose of using the photo.

3.       Quality:-

Always check whether the quality of the photo is appropriate or flaws are recognizable easily. A flawless photo is always effective than a photo having flaws. The photo shouldn't be distractive and waiving someone’s mind off.

4.       Always choose pictures that show Emotions:-

Pictures showing emotions of Love, Care, Happiness, Sadness, are the ones that attract the attention of customers more towards the ad or campaign for which you are buying the photo.

For example, if you are selling an insurance plan for the elderly, it is necessary to have an old couple in love and happy being with each other.

5.       Color Contrast of the Photo:-

It is very important to understand that the colors in the photos are not too dark and not too dull. They need to be balanced and also be soothing to eyes. Also see that the photo has no overuse of a certain color which fades the importance of other colors and make the photo look vague.

6.       Attractive People:-

The people in the photo should be attractive and similar to your purpose of buying that photo. People like to look at attractive people and models and not the ones where you have a dark model posing for a fairness cream. Stock Photography is a place where you will find many funny people posing for ads but you should take care whether it suits your purpose or no.

7.       Model Release:-