Environmental Photographer of the Year 2011

This has come in from one of our clients...

I am hoping that you can pass on to the photographers you represent that the Environmental Photographer of the Year 2011 competition is now open, and this year a new video category has been introduced to further raise awareness of environmental and social issues.

Organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), the Environmental Photographer of the Year is an international showcase for the very best in amateur and professional environmental photography, and is one of the fastest growing photographic competitions in the world – receiving 4,500 entries from photographers in 97 countries in 2010.

EPOTY celebrates photographers who use their ability to raise awareness of environmental and social issues. It is open to professional and amateur photographers of any age from anywhere in the world, and encourages entries that are creative, resonant, original and beautiful. Subjects include wildlife and marine life, environmental degradation, street photography and urban lifestyles, technology, landscapes and portraiture.

As always, the competition is completely free to enter and is open to international amateur and professional photographers of any age, encouraging entries that are contemporary, creative, resonant, original and beautiful. The winning photographs come together to form the most outstanding collection of environmental, social and natural photographs in the world.

The 2011 competition categories are:

·        Mott MacDonald’s Changing Climates

·        The Natural World

·        The Underwater World

·        Quality of Life

·        A View From the Western World

·        Building Our Future (New for 2011)

·        The Young Environmental Photographer of the Year (Under 16 & Under 21)

·        Video (New for 2011)


Individual pieces are judged on impact, creativity, composition, originality and technical abilities. Winners receive cash prizes and all winning entries are displayed in the Environmental Photographer of the Year exhibition, launched in London. Copyright is retained by the photographer.

See past winning entries, competition details and news coverage from 2010 at www.epoty.org <http://www.epoty.org> . You can also watch a brief video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCj9Y_QiTe4> of the 2010 Awards Ceremony. You can also keep up to date with any new developments by joining our Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20793482240> group.

The competition will run until 31st July 2011, with judging taking place throughout August and September.

Many thanks and best wishes,



Emily Doyle
Marketing & Media Manager
Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM),

Key-wording tips!

The one thing that stock photographers generally struggle with is keywords! The problem is that every photographer will do it slightly differently but there are some basic rules to follow. Follow them and you will get more customers viewing and hopefully buying your images, this is very important!
Below is an example and a breakdown on how I would key word this image.

Firstly the Description...


Four adults, one with a young child are walking down a snow covered street in rural Britain. They struggle through the snow with bags of grocery shopping, as the roads are impassable.

Now the keywords...


Step one: Take out all the key words from the description...

four, adults, young, child, walking, snow, covered, street, rural, britain, struggle, bags, grocery, shopping, roads, impassable.

Step two: Add similar key words that are in step one, including singular and plural versions...

 4, men, women, female, male, toddler, baby, walks, snowy, snowing, snows,  covering, streets, countryside, country, england, english, britains, struggling, bag, carrier, plastic, food, groceries, road,

Step three: Add new adjectives...

ice, icy, cold, coldest,  freezing, frozen,

Step four: Put yourself in the position of someone searching that image and add any final words that represent the image and think big!

extreme, weather, conditions, winter, local, community, communities, help, helping, others, isolated, stocking, up, supplies, family, families,

You will then end up with the following keywords...


four, adults, young, child, walking, snow, covered, street, rural, britain, struggle, bags, grocery, shopping, roads, impassable, 4, men, women, female, male, toddler, baby, walks, snowy, snowing, snows,  covering, streets, countryside, country, england, english, britains, struggling, bag, carrier, plastic, food, groceries, road, ice, icy, cold, coldest,  freezing, frozen, extreme, weather, conditions, winter, local, community, communities, help, helping, others, isolated, stocking, up, supplies, family, families,

Remember this is how I would do it and I feel this image is now covered with most of the keywords that would be used to represent this image and used in a search. I'm sure some of you would find some other words? This is not a test!


Nick Fallowfield-Cooper

A nice little set of images

This has just come in from our photographer Simon, working hard! Click on the image to see the images plus a few more extra shots. Have a look at Simon's keywords and description, I think they are just about right.

Getting out there!

This inspirational piece has come in from our Socialstock photographer, Simon Ford, who contacted me a few weeks ago about popular images Socialstock were being asked for.
After a short chat, Simon has made contact with a local community centre and shot the following collection. 
Simon also got model release on all the images.
From my personal opinion, we will start selling these images quite quickly.
Please read and be inspired and as Simon says, you can always give me a call.
If you click on the images you can view them in our library, you will also see a good short description of each shot and the keywords, which I think has been executed very comprehensively. 


Nick Fallowfield-Cooper


'Sometimes working alone from home can lead to loss of motivation and inspiration if you do not keep keep on top of yourself. Many freelancers do work alone and some of us can lose focus when commissioned work is short and the days are grey, short and miserable as well. Events to photograph on spec are few and far between this time of year and normally at the weekend anyway. So what do you do to keep the images coming?
I decided to take a pro-active and research the market and see what is being published. A good place to start is to speak to the picture editors of the libraries I use and see what is popular and what is selling. I had spoken to Nick Fallowfield-Cooper last week about key wording and we had a general chat about what was selling on Socialstock and from there I decided that I could not wait for opportunities but had to make them.

Given the client base of Socialstock I decided to trawl the local council websites to see what services they were offering and when I found a suitable area of interest I looked up the relevant person to contact and obtain permission to come onto their property and photograph. Once I had explained my intentions I was invited to attend the premises and met the manager who introduced me to the staff before being given open access to all areas of the facility. It was down to me to then approach the subjects and begin chatting to them and take a genuine interest in them and their story rather than see them as a commodity. Personal skills are important and first impressions go a long way, so does a round of teas or two. I had an enjoyable days shooting, given access to other centres and made a number of contacts for future shoots.

Research, effort, personal skills and cups of tea are just as important as an eye for a picture and a nice camera. But also, keep in contact with your picture editor who will know what is selling and what is being requested.'
Simon Ford

A word or two on key wording from Alison.

Alison, one of our Socialstock photographers has kindly sent this great piece in about key wording images. I think anyone who has  to key word,  (you know who you are!) will learn something or at  least sympathise when trying to conquer the art of good keywords...

Thank you Alison

Nick Fallowfield-Cooper

Keywords...Yeah right!

Do you remember when you started taking photos and discovered how good it felt to be behind the camera?  Taking photos and every so often taking one really fantastic shot which made the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

Then suddenly someone says 'Can you keyword it?'.  'Sorry, I have just taken my best shot ever and you are asking me to what....?! '

Honestly, unless you have managed to change career and left the English department of a top university then it is difficult!! The rest of us poor souls have to struggle with the English language and guess what, it is not easy.

Or maybe not...!!

I have a confession and that is I actually enjoy keywording.

When I started submitting photos I hated that sinking feeling of knowing I would have to sit down and write!  Also, unlike most of my fellow contributors out there, I fall flat at the first hurdle by submitting single subject images, which means no 'cut and paste' for me, but long hard thinking needed on each and every image.

However I have come up with something that works for me... (Can't guarantee it will work for everyone but just thought this might help another lone fellow photographer out there!!)

Firstly I have to come up around 25 keywords for each image. It is kind of setting myself some sort of challenge!!

Then I look at the image several times from a different perspective. I have found that by doing that it helps refocus my mind and I actually get more words - honest!!


1. Look at the photo and list absolutely everything obvious. eg man, woman, child, car, road, wall, buildings, roof, pavement,

2. Look for any colours that appear in the image eg black, blue, grey,

3. Look to see what is happening eg talking, holding, hands, looking, thinking

          4. Look at the people and describe their emotions eg happy, sad, anxious, depressed

          5. Look at the people (ethnic background) eg White, Black, Muslim, Oriental

6. Look again at the surroundings eg inside, room,

7. Look again at what actually could be happening (making up a story) eg 2 girls  - friends, sisters, teenagers,

8. Remember each word is separate, eg traffic, lights, signal.

          Finally the description has to be spot on! Keep it simple and to the point, so the viewer knows
          exactly what is going on eg Two work colleagues outside their office. 

Now if at this stage you have got completely stuck and have still only got 6 words then I suggest the following...

a. Grab the dictionary or thesarus to get similar words for the same thing eg bright, shiny, glowing, sparkling,

b. Or alternatively, get "some smart alec 12 year old" (most households have one!!) who thinks they know it all and guess what, they do!!  Seriously though, another person can sometimes spot the obvious!!

Remember the better the keywords, the better chance you get of being selected

If all else fails ring Nick..... or give up photography and become an English teacher!!

Interested to hear what anyone else thinks!!

AH

Popular images viewed this week...

Below are the popular images customers are looking at and buying during the last week.

New in this morning a new collection on the hard of hearing.

Click on the image to see our new collection, dealing with the testing of hearing and the fitting of hearing aids. All images are model released.

Surgeons... an exciting new collection at Socialstock

We have recently struck a deal with the NHS and now have a new collection of images coming our way based on all aspects of health care in the UK. We will keep updating the collection here as it grows.

Click on the image to see the whole collection.

Popular Images...

This will be a new feature coming each week. The images below are the images that our clients have been either looking at, talking about or buying in the last week.

Welcome to the Socialstock Blog

Our aim on these pages are simple, a friendly home for our photographers and clients to pass comment on our images and see the developments that Socialstock are going through and to make image buying a simple process  for our customers.

We want to showcase our photographers work, keep our photographers informed of clients image requirements, advice on good key-wording, tips on increasing sales, competitions to enter, exhibition to see, technical help and generally be a fun and informative place to be.

For our customers, we want to show that our team of social documentary photographers are working hard to find the right images for them but also taking all feedback on board and make Socialstock an easier place to source  UK images...