Alamy news

Alamy trading statement

Although Alamy is a private company we like to keep our contributors in the picture by producing regular statements regarding our business activities. To view the latest statement which gives a comparison between 2004 and 2005 please log in via this link: www.alamy.com/contributors/statements/

This information is also available in 'My Alamy'. Stock Asylum's web site provides an independent analysis of this information.

Alamy and metadata - getting our contributors' images recognised and tagged

As we often get questions surrounding metadata, IPTC information, Photoshop File info etc., we thought it would be useful to clarify to all contributors how we store data and supply that data to our customers.

This data is particularly important when working with editorial customers and more specifically with newspapers and magazine publishers. Alamy embed information relevant to the image within the digital file itself. The information only becomes embedded in the image at the point of download, so the latest available data will always be supplied at this time.

With customers sourcing imagery from a variety of picture providers and storing those images within their own internal systems, the embedded data can be used to identify Alamy as the original image provider, should the publisher wish to use the mage again in the future.

The embedded information is useful and includes captions that may be used alongside the picture when published, confirmation of image credit lines, availability of releases and a reference for checking restrictions of usage.

The information we store includes:

• The Alamy image reference number
• Copyright notice
• Release information
• Restriction information
• Keywords and Captions
• Alamy contact details

Viewing IPTC metadata

This depends on the software that you use to view, print or manage your images. For example, if you use Adobe Photoshop CS2 version 9.0, choose 'File Info' from the File menu.

How is the information stored?

We store the information according to the IPTC Information Interchange Model (IIM) and IPTC Metadata for XMP (IPTC4XMP). More information on these specifications can be found at: www.iptc.org

IIM Field	IPTC IIMv4 name	IPTC Core (XMP) Label	Information Alamy place in this field
05	Object Name (Title)	Title	Alamy image reference
25	Keywords	Keywords	Keywords
40	Special Instructions	Instructions	"Visit your order history at: www.alamy.com/order-history.asp for more information. This image is in virtual CD: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn"
55	Date created	Date created	Date photo taken (blank if not known)
103	Original Transmission Reference	Transmission Reference	Your ref nnnnnnnnn; Our Ref: nnnnnnn; Downloaded date (if known)
110	Credit	Provider	Alamy
115	Source	Source	www.alamy.com
116	Copyright Notice	Copyright Notice	Alamy copyright line for the image
120	Caption / Abstract	Caption / Description	Caption (or description if the caption is blank)
N/A	N/A	Creator's Contact Info	Alamy contact information
N/A	N/A	Rights Usage Terms	Terms and conditions, licence, rights usage terms as appropriate for the photo.
N/A	N/A	N/A	URL to image (appears in the Copyright Info URL field in Photoshop)
N/A	N/A	N/A	Copyright status (appears in the Copyright Status field in Photoshop)

Alamy hopes that the work we are doing in this area can save our customers valuable time and also ease the identification of images. With the spotlight recently on the issue in the states of Orphan Works it's imperative that Alamy ensure your images are tagged with the necessary information.

Special rates for top photo library models

Alamy have teamed up with the model agency Flair Talent to offer our contributors special rates when booking models. Flair represents a wide range of adult and child models, based all over the UK. Their models have featured in campaigns for companies such as Tesco, Barclays and Kellogg's. For more information, please give them a call on 020 8672 6486 or email bookings@flairtalent.com

Jpeg submissions

We are now accepting Jpeg image submissions inline with the following guidelines:

• Images must be saved at Jpeg level 12 - the highest quality setting.
• Images saved as Jpegs must be at least 48mb in size when uncompressed.

Please note that we are only concerned that Jpegs are 48Mb when opened (uncompressed). The files can be any size once compressed.

There are no disadvantages to working in this way. Alamy has always provided images to its clients in Jpeg form and this method of submission will be beneficial to you in terms of saving disc space and cutting down on CD/DVD burning times.

We continue to also accept TIFF files as well as TIFF files with LZW compression.

© Nick Cobbing

Congratulations

Congratulations to Alamy photographer Nick Cobbing, who recently won second place in the picture stories section of the Pictures of the Year international awards for photojournalism, in the category Science and Natural History.

The aerial picture story, called 'Surface tension' shows the changing landscape of central Greenland as it yields to the melting, flowing and freezing ice. The work is particularly topical as studies reveal the alarming melt rate of Greenland's inland ice and the contribution it will make to rising sea levels.

Congratulations to Alamy photographer Rob Lawson who received a commendation in the Guardian Weekend Photography Competition recently, with Alamy reference A2CHK5 of a Chinese Concierge.

California based Alamy contributor Brad Perks has recently had a new book on San Francisco published. The book contains over 130 photographs and comprises of a collection of photographic portraits of San Francisco and the Bay Area. The subjects range from the Golden Gate Bridge to the scenic Napa Valley vineyards and the colourful Gay Parade.

A new edition of the book 'Backyard Insects' by Australia based Alamy contributor Denis Crawford is now out. The publication features 185 macro insect images. Denis aims to engender a little wonder in readers, rather than the typical fear and loathing of insects. The book is published by Melbourne University Publishing.

Alamy photographer Ilse Schrama has recently had a book published in collaboration with Birgit Schrama, entitled 'Buddhist Temple Life in Laos'. The book is a photographic essay exploring the lives of a community of Buddhist monks and nuns, young and old, in Laos. Ilse's sincere interest was rewarded with intimate photographs of the daily routines of these dedicated followers of the 2,500 year old Theravada tradition. The result is a unique record of some of the less obvious facets of the devotees' lives of hardship and joy, as lived in their temple - Wat Lok Pa Luang - on the outskirts of Laos' capital city, Vientiane.

If you've won a photography award recently, had a photography book published or similar, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us on memberservices@alamy.com and we may be able to feature you in the next edition of Contributor Source.

Jobs at Alamy

We've decided to highlight current vacancies at Alamy, both in our UK and India offices. Please feel free to forward these details to anyone who you feel may be suited to the advertised positions. For the latest vacancies, please see www.alamy.com/jobs

Contacting us

When contacting Alamy please appreciate that we have over 6000 contributors, in the first instance please email memberservices@alamy.com, this email box is constantly monitored and you will receive a response as soon as is practical. Our published telephone line is dedicated to our sales efforts so any calls you make could be blocking a sales call.