So you’ve heard about the partnership between Getty Images and Flickr? That’s right, the image giant is now perusing the millions of photos on Flickr to find photos to purchase. Here are some tips that will help you on your mission to be discovered:

Shoot subjects worthy of Getty Images

While customers of Getty Images vary widely, think about the types of photos that people would want to pay for. What kinds of photos would be placed on the cover of a magazine or the front page of a newspaper? What kinds of photos would a company want to use for advertising? Photograph those subjects.

Use appropriate tagging, captioning and groups

You want your photos to be found as easily and as often as possible. You do not want to spam the system with irrelevant tags, however, so be sure that any tags/groups/descriptions you use are relevant to the photos. Think of synonyms and other words beyond the obvious ways to describe your photos.

Be sure to have appropriate releases & resolution

When taking photos of people, be sure to have accompanying model releases available, and be sure that Getty is easily aware of the fact. Maybe even a short note at the end of the description saying that the image is available for commercial use and that you have the release forms available. You also want to ensure that the image is available in a high enough resolution for commercial uses.

Submit through the Call for Artists group on Flickr

In November 2009, Flickr began allowing photographers to submit up to 10 photos directly to the Getty Images Call for Artists group. Be sure to follow the rules of the group, and only send your very best photos.

Good luck, and we wish you the best in getting discovered by Getty Images!

So you’ve heard about the partnership between Getty Images and Flickr? That’s right, the image giant is now perusing the millions of photos on Flickr to find photos to purchase. Here are some tips that will help you on your mission to be discovered:

While customers of Getty Images vary widely, think about the types of photos that people would want to pay for. What kinds of photos would be placed on the cover of a magazine or the front page of a newspaper? What kinds of photos would a company want to use for advertising? Photograph those subjects.

You want your photos to be found as easily and as often as possible. You do not want to spam the system with irrelevant tags, however, so be sure that any tags/groups/descriptions you use are relevant to the photos. Think of synonyms and other words beyond the obvious ways to describe your photos.

When taking photos of people, be sure to have accompanying model releases available, and be sure that Getty is easily aware of the fact. Maybe even a short note at the end of the description saying that the image is available for commercial use and that you have the release forms available. You also want to ensure that the image is available in a high enough resolution for commercial uses.

In November 2009, Flickr began allowing photographers to submit up to 10 photos directly to the Getty Images Call for Artists group. Be sure to follow the rules of the group, and only send your very best photos.

Good luck, and we wish you the best in getting discovered by Getty Images!