Smyrnoff Blog Wordle

Japan Photobook

I've finished the photobook and it has arrived. I am a little dissappointed with the finish but not so much as to complain to Cewe-Photoworld who produced it. Some pages show faint magenta and green banding across the whole page and the amount of sharpening they have used is more than I would have liked (my images are unsharpened for Alamy and Cewe don't give you control over it - rightly, as you can't judge it unless you know the printer they are using)

Before I archived the original files I took screenshots of the book layout in order to show a preview of it to my friends. Here are some highlights (below - or watch the slideshow)...the real thing runs to 84 pages! Most of the full page bleeds are available on Alamy in my portfolio, here.

I chose the XL Picture Hardcover book and so these double-page spreads are 60cm wide, the quality of the D300 images is fabulous, and it especially shines in some of the night shots which were all shot handheld at up to 1600 ISO with the wonderful 16-85 Nikkor VR lens (except for the A-bomb dome which was one of only two occasions that the tripod got used).

P.S. I'm still keywording the Japan images, but as of this afternoon, I will have 500 images live on Alamy, hooray!

Alamy Measures Stats December 2008

So I'm *still* keywording those damned Japan pictures on Alamy but at least I've finished a photo book of the best 404 pictures that I brought back. I'm off on my next assignment soon so there'll be some new pictures to show you of winter scenes! This last month was still lacking in sales but my CTR has bounced back nicely. Here is my view of Alamy for the month of December: Proportion of searches for: 1 word = 22% , average of 12.36 pages viewed 2 words = 44% , average of 8.67 pages viewed 3 words = 25% , average of 8.23 pages viewed 4 words = 9% , average of 5.27 pages viewed 5+ words = 0% , average of 0.41 pages viewed Total number of pictures at end of month: 467 Number of sales for month: 0 Average number of my pictures viewed matching query: 2.14 Total average CTR for searches in which my images appeared: 1.29% My CTR: 0.93%

Traditional shop fronts in modern Japanese street scene, Miyajima Island, Japan

Proportion of searches for: 5 letter words 16.41% 6 letter words 15.44% 3 letter words 14.86% 4 letter words 13.32% 7 letter words 11.39% 9 letter words 9.07% 8 letter words 9.07% 10 letter words 4.05% 2 letter words 3.86% 11 letter words 0.77% 13 letter words 0.77% 15 letter words 0.58% Most popular words (top 5 in each position ignoring "and"): First word: marlow tinsel reading christmas uk mardi Second word: Berkshire uk house bin not gras Third word: uk edinburgh bags beads man money office cut-out landfill africa Fourth word: uk edinburgh bin town london rubbish Any position: marlow tinsel Chrismas brunel capsules Most popular variations: environmental health: (bin OR rubbish) uk: (construction site OR taxi OR bank reflection) reading: (berkshire OR abbey) recycling: (bin OR box) woman: (rucksack OR umbrella) scotland: (yard OR hotel) disabled: (uk OR parking) silver: (tinsel OR presents) In contrast to the stats that I can gather from my own Measures data, here is what the whole of Alamy is searching for: Most popular Alamy searches (top 5 in each position ignoring "alamy" as a search): by number of unique customers searching: Christmas "christmas tree" "christmas dinner" ipod hospital by number of sales: "san andreas colombia" parrots "leeds sculpture" "leeds kenneth" "madrasa pakistan" by number of zooms: lobina mallorca "Frank Lloyd Wright" "nassau bahamas" "World Cup"

It's all over!

Knife salesman behind display of knives at the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
...Japan, that is!!! I've finished editing my Japan pictures and so I shortly will have 250 images of Japan online with Alamy. I reckon 1 in 10 pictures I shot have been made it onto Alamy which means that I shot about 2,500 pictures in 14 days. There's quite a lot of sumo and baseball pictures which aren't of suitable quality for stock but perfectly good for my own album and web use, and a load of similars from things like the Kamakura horseback archery.

Of course, the downside of my collection on Alamy being so Japan-heavy is that my CTR will probably drop further since travel is such a competitive area. But, who cares, the hard work is over..almost. I have got to keyword about 150...

Fresh seafood and fish stall at the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan 3/3

Fresh tuna on sale at the Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan 2/3

Alamy Measures Stats November 2008

*Sigh* The most depressing part of struggling on Alamy is actually that they make your stats so available and detailed. I am clearly not succeeding on Alamy and I don't wish to go into denial and blame the credit crunch. I have found some enthusiasm to start shooting some stock over winter at least but the following stats represent my worst month so far. Here is my view of Alamy for the month of November: Proportion of searches for: 1 word = 15% , average of 22.48 pages viewed 2 words = 52% , average of 10.38 pages viewed 3 words = 24% , average of 7.14 pages viewed 4 words = 8% , average of 7.75 pages viewed 5+ words = 1% , average of 7.33 pages viewed Total number of pictures at end of month: 403 Number of sales for month: 0 Average number of my pictures viewed matching query: 2.11 Total average CTR for searches in which my images appeared: 1.35% My CTR: 0.37% WTF!!!!!

Coloured and golden Koi carp, Hiroshima, Japan 3/4

Proportion of searches for: 5 letter words 15.86% 4 letter words 15.69% 6 letter words 14.44% 3 letter words 14.08% 9 letter words 11.59% 7 letter words 11.23% 8 letter words 8.20% 2 letter words 4.28% 10 letter words 2.14% 11 letter words 2.14% 13 letter words 0.18% 16 letter words 0.18% Most popular words (top 5 in each position ignoring "and"): First word: christmas chinese tinsel toilet amsterdam book ENGLAND victorian Second word: CARDS dragon UK christmas child office Third word: UK manger Traditional shop lake smith Fourth word: UK district beautiful buildings mountain concrete Fifth word: village Any position: christmas CARDS UK chinese dragon Most popular variations: shell: (petrol OR fuel) christmas: (cards OR stars OR decoration angel OR penguin OR presents) amsterdam: (coffee shop OR bike) book: (pile OR chapter) old: (book OR paper) toilet: (seat OR flush) household: (rubbish OR recycling OR store) victorian: (street OR christmas OR doll OR toy) In contrast to the stats that I can gather from my own Measures data, here is what the whole of Alamy is searching for: Most popular Alamy searches (top 5 in each position ignoring "alamy" as a search): by number of unique customers searching: Christmas "christmas tree" dubai cat champagne by number of sales: tallin leeds "kid profile" "dawn ireland" warnemunde by number of zooms: courcheval malaysia hawaii christmas cuba