PhotoSourceBANK (a feature of the PhotoSourceBOOK)


Q: As I understand it, I can enter 3,000 words describing my photos?
A: Yes, that's right. You might initially have only 300 or 500 photos that you'd like to enter. Go ahead and enter them. You can use as many words or phrases as you like to describe your photos. Examples: suprised boy with sister, happy puppy with cat, rainy night, windy, quiet beach at dawn, wet road at night, cold winter day, Heidleburg, Heidelberg.

Q: Why should I, as an editorial stock photographer, use PhotoSourceBANK when I can get my images up on a webpage for free with AngelFire, Tripod, GeoCities and others?
A: This one's easy: Number of hits from photobuyers per day. Photobuyers actively search PhotoSourceBANK pages for special interest images. Our website gets an average of 15,000 hits per day -- four times as many visitors as all of our photography competition sites -- COMBINED. Wouldn't you rather have four times as many buyers visiting your web page on the PhotoSourceBANK? Plus, AngelFire, Tripod, and other free websites require you to allow advertising banners on your site, which would be an irritant to photobuyers. This, and a poorly designed website, would give an unprofessional impression of you to the photobuyer.

Q: Why aren’t actual photos included on the PhotoSourceBANK?
A: The PhotoSourceBANK is a text-centric site which means that search engines such as Google come through it at lightning speed to find the "source" of a highly specialized photo. We also have a site that will feature your photos: www.photosourcegroup.com. If you can provide hi-res images to photobuyers - this service is free if you are a member of PhotoSourceBANK.
Another area of interest: If you are interested in exhibiting 6 of your images in large format, check our www.photosourcefolio.com where photobuyer traffic is also high. FOLIO costs $4.95 a month.

Q: Are you using the same search engine for the new PhotoSourceBANK that you were using in the original PhotoSourceBANK?
A: We have developed a new search engine, "PhotoQuick," for the PhotoSourceBOOK and now use it in the PhotoSourceBANK. Our new software, "PhotoQuick," provides a quick search feature that rivals any search service on the web. You can test it out at http://photosourcebook.com/search.

Q: What if I enter only a few photo descriptions now-- can I enter more at a later date?
A: Yes. Our system is designed so that you can add or subtract from your 3,000 words at any time. You can also change such things as area code, street, apartment address, etc. But remember, the more keywords and keyphrases you have entered, the sooner photobuyers will contact you for that hard-to-find photo.

Q: Why all the specialized categories? Can't I just list "Nature," "Scenics," "Sports," "Agriculture," and be done with it?
A: Magazines, brochures, websites, CD ROMs, multi-media, textbooks, and books are highly specialized today because their readers/viewers have highly specialized interests. Photobuyers don't want to contact 50 photographers who are "sports" photographers -- when they can find four photographers who have listed "indoor soccer." Also it stands to reason that a "soccer" photographer probably knows more about the game (and this will reflect in his or her photographs) than a generalized "sports" photographer. Photobuyers are interested in pleasing their discerning (and often critical) viewers.

Q: How should I list my scenics and landscapes?
A: When you type in your entries, resist the urge to enter your prize-winning collection of landscapes. Photobuyers generally go to their own favorite stock photo agency or staff photographers for these easy-to-find generic pictures. If you do list a landscape, pick out some specific aspect. Here are some examples: Appalachian Trail in winter, Painted Desert at sunup, petrified wood, White Grass Ranch in the Tetons, Seals at Monterey Bay.

Q: I plan on using all 3,000 words -- can I condense my photo descriptions by eliminating non-essential words?
A: Eliminate all prepositions such as "in", "at", "all", "near", "above", "under", "any", etc.

Q: What's better, to use a few words to describe my photo, or a lot of words?
A: Use a lot of words, but use a telegram style. Example: for "a cat sleeping with a puppy," instead use: "cat sleeping with puppy." Always put essential words first. "Sleeping cat" would be listed under "S"; "Cat sleeping" would be listed under "C." List both ways if you want. (You get 3,000 words.)

Q: Should I list in the PhotoSourceBANK page my image format, film type, ID numbers, -- those sorts of things?
A: No need to list these in the PhotoSourceBANK. You can detail these when you are contacted by a photobuyer.

Q: Is this a website I'm building?
A: Yes, it's what's called a Home Page, and it's yours. You can list your unique web address (URL) that we provide you, on your stationery and your business cards. If you've already subscribed to PhotoSourceBANK, our program will be giving you a new URL, or website address. Contact us at info@photosource.com to learn how your subscription will be prorated, if you paid your PhotoSourceBANK subscription on a yearly basis (not monthly), if you plan to sign up for a page in the PhotoSourceBOOK directory.

Q: What if I've already subscribed to PhotoSourceBANK, and my old URL is on my stationery, business cards, etc.?
A: No problem. Our software will automatically redirect any inquirer using your former website address, to your new one.

Q: Why do you want us to put text descriptions of our photos in the PhotoSourceBANK, and not put the photos themselves?
A: Through our surveys and conversations with photobuyers in the multi-media industry (books, magazines, and other publishing entities) we've learned that editorial photobuyers want highly specific pictures, not generic photos. This means they prefer to first locate a source who has photo coverage in that subject area, before they start looking at actual photos. With this in mind, the PhotoSourceBANK allows photo editors to easily research and find who has a collection of pictures in the subject area that they're looking for. They then contact the photographer to view a selection of targeted photos. Another reason we list text descriptions rather than actual photos: Disk space. In the space it takes to store one photo, you can fit brief word descriptions of hundreds of photos! Plus, there's also a time factor at work. It's been said, "A picture is worth a thousand words," -- but to call up a text description of a picture on the World Wide Web is a thousand times faster than calling up the picture itself. Photobuyers know that to get pictures up on a computer screen is a slow process, and they don't have time for it, unless they are pulling up a specific picture they've selected. They would rather first find out who has pictures in the category they're seeking, and then contact the photographer for a selection of targeted photos to look through. We serve as a channel to help photobuyers locate you and your photo specialties.

Q: When a photobuyer refers to 'content-specific' pictures, what does it mean?
A: The term means the 'content of the picture' is highly specific. For a story on different breeds of cats, for example, a photobuyer would need photos of specific types of cats (e.g. Siamese, Angora, etc.) not "cats" in general.

Q: What about general scenics, landscapes, that sort of thing?
A: Put yourself in the photo editor's shoes. If you were looking for a picture of a sunset in the Painted Desert, or snowfall on the Missouri River, or a particular waterfall in Wyoming, you would narrow your search by entering two or three words when you start the search mechanism (waterfall Wyoming, snowfall Missouri River). Take this clue and enter two or three descriptive extra words for your general scenics and landscapes. These are called "keyphrases."

Q: Should I enter listings for B&W's? How about color prints?
A: Yes, you should list all pictures you have: slides, B&W's, color prints, no matter the format. No need to group them a special way unless you want to. The search engine highlights a buyer's specific search words in red when they appear in a group of listings, so listings can all be mixed together.

Q: How do I enter a listing? I mean, is it just like a caption on a photo?
A: Yes, very similar but shorter. Whenever you enter a photo description on the PhotoSourceBANK keep in mind that a photobuyer comes to us not for generic pictures of an animal, airplane, or a zoo, but for a specific picture, of a Siamese cat, a Piper Cub, or the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The more specific you are in your photo listings, the greater the chance that a photobuyer will be contacting you to get details about your photo collection. Reminder: We allow up to 3,000 words to describe your photos on the PhotoSourceBANK because one picture may be described several ways. For example, an energetic senior citizen might be tending a cabbage garden in a rural setting and his antique airplane is in the background. Although this is a rare situation, here's how that one photo could be listed: rural barn, cabbage garden, energetic senior citizen, antique airplane. All of these elements must be prominent in the picture. For example, the antique airplane can't be partially hidden, or the cabbage garden be in the seedling stage.

Q: Should I use "bold face" in my photo descriptions?
A: Not a good idea. The search engine will bold face a "find" for the photobuyer. If you bold face items -- it will serve to confuse the photobuyer who lands on your page for a specific search.

Q: How many daily visitors do you expect to the PhotoSourceBANK?
A: We get hundreds of photobuyers per day to this section of the PhotoSource International website. Overall, our site is the most visited photography website. It receives 55,000 hits per day. It's important to list as many of the subjects you have coverage of as possible. Here's an example: One of our subscribers had visited the country of Kuwait when her husband went there on a business trip a few years back. When Reader's Digest was doing an article on the Gulf War, they needed a picture of the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, and they listed it on our service. Tina Manley happened to have taken a picture of that hotel, which was where she and her husband had stayed. She had it listed on her PhotoSourceBANK site. She sold one-time rights to the picture to Reader's Digest for $800. This is a reminder that photobuyers buy pictures "not because they like them, but because they need them." Look at the pictures in the books and magazines in your library. They are not necessarily award-winning photos, but they are the photos the photobuyer needed. The real judge of the worth of a photo is the photo editor who writes the checks.

Q: Can I submit picture categories even though I haven't actually taken the pictures yet?
A: Yes! If you have a top-of-the-line digital camera and can deliver hi-res images within a day or two, be sure to list local entities of interest, even if you haven't as yet photographed them. Consult your local "Yellow Pages" telephone directory for idea points of interest that you should list. Also, use www.superpages.com.These would include: museums, parks, historic places, schools, factories, hospitals, celebrations, airports, restaurants, etc. Photobuyers are always interested in picture "availability." For example, if you live next door to a silver mine -- one of your listings, at least, should read: silver mining. (Also list it as: silver mine.) If a relative is a dentist, your entries could read: dentist, toothache, cavity, and dentistry. However, for practical purposes, have photographs available of many aspects of a subject, so that you have a variety of photographs on hand when a photobuyer queries you. Otherwise you'll find the buyer will write in July for a winter scene of the silver mine, or a dental situation when your dentist cousin is on vacation.

Q: What about geographical listings?
A: Photobuyers very often request pictures by specific geographical area. It's important that you list your nearest national park and your nearest tourist attraction(s). These geographical categories are only suggestions. Expand them to include anything a photobuyer might be interested in -- even though you do not as yet have a picture of it. Ask your local Chamber of Commerce for brochures. Buy post cards from your local newsstand. The locations depicted will give you ideas of what you should list. Be sure to list the closest city, your state, and any nearby landmarks.

Q: What if I have photos older than ten years, can I list them?
A: Yes, photobuyers often need non-current photos. For images older than ten years, list them like this: Pittsburgh 1987, Ethiopia 1920, Syracuse NY 1979, University of Pennsylvania 1982, Tokyo 1946, Anchorage, Alaska 1966. Note: For timeless scenics no need to list a date, but be specific (i.e., not just "waterfall," but "Oak Glenn Falls TN, sunset blooming dogwood").

Q: My stock photos are of people, not places. How can I enter them?
A: Magazine photo editors always are seeking "people" pictures. So are book publishers in the areas of education, medicine, sociology, psychology, etc. Here at PhotoSource International, we get many requests for stock photographers who can supply pictures which show people, their relationships and emotions. Here are some of the most asked-for categories: Helping, discussing, thinking, smiling, sleeping, crying, anger, concentration, sadness, joy, love, surprise, loneliness, cooperation. Employ these often with your 'people pictures.' Here's an example of how you would list these kinds of photos: Angry parent, student thinking, lonely child in bedroom.

Q: And inanimate objects, how do I list those?
A: Same way. Here are some examples: burning house, church dawn, sunlight steeple, rainy day in St. Paul, MN.

Q: Listing all my photo descriptions in one long paragraph seems to defeat the purpose of photo research. How can the photo editor ever find a specific word?
A: Our search engine "PhotoQuick" on the PhotoSourceBANK, automatically locates and highlights any word the photo researcher is looking for.

Q: Having problems viewing your PhotoSourceBANK page?
A: If you are using Internet Explorer 5.0 or earlier, to remedy your viewing problem, make an upgrade to Internet Explorer, or click here for instructions on how to fix it.

PhotoSourceFOLIO

Q: What does the PhotoSourceFOLIO cost?
A: You are able to display 6 of your images for $59 per year. (There is an extra charge for scanning if you are unable to e-mail us jpegs of your six photos). You can put six photos and captions on the PhotoSourceFOLIO by paying $59 per year or $4.95 per month.

Q: How do I submit my photos to my web page?
A. Your pictures will be displayed on the PhotoSourceFOLIO. To see how other photographers are displayed, check out: http://www.photosourcefolio.com. You have several ways to get your pictures there: 1.) If you already have photos posted on the Web, let us know the URL and which ones you would like posted (use our handy order form). 2.) Have a local service bureau scan them for you (300 k) and e-mail them to us. 3.) Have us scan and post them for you -- the fee is $25. 4.) Send your CD-ROM via postal mail.


One last thought: PhotoSource International is an equal-opportunity website. It is an open database for novices and semi-pros with qualified photos, as well as for professionals. Let us know if we can be of further assistance to you. Our e-mail address is info@photosource.com.