You are a Buyer - a specialist in your field. And you know exactly what you are looking for.
But now you have to find that perfect image by searching through 145 million photos.
Pretty daunting, right? The trick is knowing how to keyword well on Dreamstime.
Every Contributor wants their work found. And you, The Buyer, wants to spend as little time as possible in looking for that item. Find it fast! Matches are made every day between Buyers and The Perfect Photo on Dreamstime – through keywords. As a previous Buyer, I came to think of achieving that ‘match’ as a game (and as a Contributor today I still enjoy the keywording more than the actual photography). At its best, it is a mental game against a highly sophisticated computer algorithm.
First, understand that images (media) should be labeled quite literally.
Contributors should describe only what they see (not what they know was happening in the background). A detailed Title is helpful in differentiating images – and the Contributor wants their image to stand out from the others. The Title is key to what the search engines access. So the Title ‘ Fish fall from water coming out of a pipe’ is literal – and probably gives you and idea what is shown without even having the photo in front of you. The Buyer can put in single terms or statements to search and either will yield different results.
Second, as a Buyer, reflect on and identify what it is you truly seek.
Do you want the actual image showing a vintage metal 8mm film reel? Or do you instead seek an image that reeks of nostalgia of the vintage movie industry? These search terms will bring forth very different images and without some reflection and maybe even notetaking to keep track of the terms you might use (and then have used), you may dodge the perfect fit at first. As Contributors, we must remain literal to the image. However, we also have the ability (and choice) to enter associative terms that are pertinent to the photo.
Finally, brush up on your high school synonyms and technical jargon.
Yes, a beautiful image of marigold petals - as are the other 11,576 images you get when you search ‘marigolds’. You, the Buyer, want to narrow your choices to a select few excellent options for your project. The title of this image is ‘Pollen grains on Tagetes patula petal’. Though the image is clearly a marigold, the focus is on the pollen, and so separates the image a bit from other ‘marigold’ images available. Also, the Latin name for French marigold is listed, and as a more detailed, scientific name there would be fewer photographs tagged with these terms – providing a narrower list of hits for the Buyer. Find it fast!
A synonym for pollen is microgametophytes. An extra added keyword useful because it is 1) specific to the photo, 2) not a common term, and 3) one that a botanist, a landscaper, a geneticist, or an allergist might use to narrow the search. As the Contributor I can (and should) be thinking about who might possibly need such a photo.
Synonyms in general can be utilized best in the photo Description that the Contributor uses to further elaborate on the image Title. Adding more detail and utilizing synonyms also benefits both the Buyer and Contributor as these are also picked up by the search engines.
While you may use technical terms in your search, recognize that not everyone is a great keyword-er. Quality keywording takes research and time – and to be honest, a lot of notetaking. Do try entering some more generic terms along with your specialized jargon and see what pops up – you may be surprised at the breadth of amazing photos you have to choose from!
No comments:
Post a Comment