In my years as an image keywording specialist, I keyworded nearly 250,000 images (yep a quarter of a million). To keyword all these images, consistently and comprehensively, I had to have a system to methodically go through each image. Without a system, there simply is no way to ensure consistency and accuracy.

Image recognition software still has a long way to go before it can come even close to manual Keywording, so you need to learn how to do it well. In a series of six weekly posts, I will show you a way to systematize how you look at an image to come up with all the appropriate keywords.

The first step is to start dividing your image. Actually, what we are doing is parsing out the language you are using to describe the image, into manageable parts. There are many useful and logical ways to make these divisions, but this is my preferred method.

I first divided up my potential keywords into six buckets:

• WHO: Describe the people in the image
• WHAT: Describe the objects in the image
• WHERE: Describe where the image was taken
• WHEN: Describe when the image was taken
• WHY: Describe the actions, emotions, concepts and adjectives shown in the image
• HOW: Describe any and all photographic techniques used in taking the photo

I know, it’s not perfect, but it has a certain ring to it, and it works. I guarantee you that if you did nothing more than just use this punch list as you were keywording, you’d be doing a better job than most photographers. However, I still highly recommend reading the following posts as I will drill down into each group and explain both what to look for, what to keyword, and teach you some of the industry standard keywords to help you connect with buyers. Read More→