Before I even upload a picture onto Dreamstime I do my research on the particular subject in my picture. Also while I am researching I look at at Dreamstime stock photos for the subject that I will be uploading just to get a feel of other pictures of the same subject. I notice a lot of times especially when it comes to animals and flowers the subjects are mislabeled or they are given a generic name cause they do not know what animal it is.
Most of the time when it comes to animals I know exactly what the animal is but if I do not I will not upload the picture until I find out exactly what it is. If I take a picture of an animal in a zoo I go to the zoos website and look at their list of animals which sometimes they have pictures to go with each animal but if they do not I take the list narrow it down to roughly the same type of animals and research the smaller list of animals until I start coming up with matches for what I am looking for. If the animal is out in the wild I will research animals local to the region until I find a match.
Also when I do my research I want to know Scientific Classification, what area range does the animals live and what characteristics does this animal have.
For me I already know a lot about animals since I have studied up on them on my own for many years but after going into the stock photography business I have been learning a lot more.
I read in a nature photographer book once "to be truly successful in nature photography get to know your subject." I truly believe what this person was saying because you need to know your subject to make it easier for the buyer to find the exact picture they are looking for.
