Fewer Keywords Better than More?

A short ramble about stock photography. I've been wondering if a few very pertinent keywords are better for rankings and CTR. I used to go through all the possible aspects of the photos, including emotional permutations and such. Now I'm thinking the mass of keywords was a counter-productive waste of time.

Perhaps it's better to be very literal.

Thoughts?

Be Opportunistic

I was given an assignment from Cross Currents magazine to shoot photos of Mary Piper, who's an administrator at Radio Maria, a missionary radio station. We had hours to get everything done, so there was no time to do on location shots at the station, so I went over to Mary's house to see what I could get.




My first shot was just a typical head and shoulders shot, just in case we need it, taken out by her front door, which had a bit of stained glass, so it fit with the theme.

It was a nice shot, but didn't tell much of a story and she was a bit stiff (who wouldn't be?).

Enter my assistant: Andrew! He comes out of the house, and instead of shooing him away, I encourage him to jump into the picture.

Already, it's a nicer, warmer photo. It's still not telling a story yet. Mary typically hauls boxes of stuff back and forth to the station in her van. So, we gathered up some props and headed to the van. I took the rear seat out to give us more room and jumped into the middle area with my 17-40.



Andrew was still with us, so I asked him to jump into the seat next to me, while Mary was at the rear like she was loading gear into the van. I gave Mary some instructions, but gave more instructions to Andrew: "stick your tongue out, put your thumbs in your ears, make silly faces".



It worked out really well. I got just the shot I needed and I think everyone had fun.

Party Dress

What a happy shot! It just makes me smile.

Pic of the Day

I've been working on Jessica's photo shoot more. Here's another one of my favorites from her session.

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

It was my pleasure Saturday morning to shoot photos of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur celebrating their jubilees. These women have been living a life dedicated to service, one was celebrating her 75th year as a nun! How cool! They were an inspiration to me and I really enjoyed spending the morning with them. The photos will run in an upcoming issue of Cross Currents magazine.

Everyone's a Producer

"When the tools of production are available to all, everyone becomes a producer." --Chris Anderson in "The Long Tail".

Beautiful young woman from last week

Jessica came over last week and we had a great time shooting. It was great working with her. Here are a few pics from her session. I'll post more soon.

Leave your comments and let me know which one you like the best!