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23 Responses to “fotoLibra And Metadata”

  1. Linda Wright says:

    This is such an interesting and, as usual, entertaining blog. Plenty of food for thought here. I did enjoy reading it…

  2. Derek Metson says:

    I’m like you Gwyn. I don’t understand all the technical bits. I just keep on taking photos like I’ve been doing since I was 16 (that long?!).

    Prefer to take pics of people and animals but can manage the occasional decent landscape. The main aim is – we hope – to make money, but even when I had a studio, the sitting fees were pretty much there to give away to it was almost all on spec – just like freelancing.

    We’re happy to leave the sales, legal and technical bits to fotoLibra, though we would be even more happy to see more sales.

  3. E.Strodl says:

    Nice work Gwyn…utterly to the point.

  4. Rob WIlson says:

    There is no such thing as bad publicity .. thinks aloud ..

    Mystery is always intriguing ….

    My biggest mistake was dropping you off for tea & buns in Caerleon …

    Rob W

  5. John Strain says:

    Great stuff Gwyn – most impressed that you remembered all that from your speech. As with most photographers, it’s the making of the photograph which counts. The rest of it is a pain with which we have up to put.

  6. Jan Fritz says:

    Your personal speech gives me a good feeling. I started to upload images a few months ago and did not sell any yet. Some are on someones lightbox,but sometimes very very long but as in the early analogue days: investment comes first. So I keep my fingers crossed.

  7. Rob says:

    It’s a really tricky one…whether to post to social media or not but I think so long as your image is low-res and watermarked it will be of little interest or value to someone seeking to profit from it. A good read and it’s reminded me to check my meta-data is up to date!

    • Gwyn Headley says:

      Exactly. Keep it lo-res, keep it watermarked. If you use your fotoLibra Preview, it’s all already there. And they’ll know where to buy the picture too!

  8. Toni Allen says:

    Thanks Gwyn, you’re a gem. I knew that Facebook had done something dodgy to do with photographs but I hadn’t realised the extent of their stealth theft. I’ve posted a few recently to try and get people looking at more of my images, but I think I’ll stop doing that right from this moment! I don’t suppose you know what Pinterest’s metadata policy is? Or WordPress that I use for my blog? In fact a blog post outlining what each social media site’s metadata policy is would be really useful. No pressure!

    • Gwyn Headley says:

      That’s a really great idea. And now you’ve made me feel obliged to do it on behalf odf our members. Damn.

      Seriously, I will do it. Obviously I can’t find out the policy of every social media network, so perhaps you can help me start off by letting me know the top 25?

      Flickr. Facebook. LinkedIn. Bebo. Picasa. Reddit. Instagram. MySpace. YouTube. SnapChat. Ummm …

  9. We are so different, Gwyn . For example , my metadata would record that I too am a fat git who revels in rugby , has a degree in history and still pursues it passionately , and has worked in and around publishing all his life . But if you are searching for photographs you will avoid me – I have never taken one worth saving in my life . But this too illustrates the power of metadata – it will be what we search on when searching at source for superficial likeness fails us . It is what we will search when we need to know whether things have value for us and where they are , not when we want to look at every object . Metadata will save our lives as knowledge workers , enable us to analyse and visualize , and save us from the sifting of torrents of peripheral content . And I don’t understand a word Rob says and I know why – he is articulating today’s view while thinking about tomorrows developments. Try replaying either of these idea streams in slow time – once they are separated from each other he becomes intelligible , and often brilliant ! David

    • Gwyn Headley says:

      Channelling Rob is a very good suggestion. I’ll give it a go on Friday. I hope my concept splitter is functional. And didn’t the Lions do well!

  10. emeka says:

    hi i registered at fotolibra a while ago pls i want to know im a nigerian i have wonderful pictures mostly african themed that will be an intresting addition to your collection i would love to share them but how do i position myself so i can make money off them like you im not a photographer but i just love taking pictures

  11. Steve Lake says:

    Gwyn, may I elbow my way in here in my role as BAPLA Vice-Chair and ask that anyone who is interested in the vital role of metadata in the picture industry takes a look at this – http://www.clsg.info/codeofpractice.html

    This is a draft code of practice for creating and retaining metadata, developed by a working group made up of members from across the creative industries and linked to (but not part of) the recently launched Copyright Hub.

    They are asking for feedback from creators, licensors and users (both professional and amateur) and the more of us from the photographic industry that get involved the better the outcome will be.

    BAPLA will be submitting its own response but we are encouraging all our members and individual photographers to make their own submissions.

    If we can demonstrate the strength of feeling in our industry than it may help to change attitudes.