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Search tips

Our advanced image search engine makes it easy to run complex and very specific searches on our image library. Please take a few minutes to understand the following simple examples: your future image searches will then be fast and accurate.

  

Jump down the page to a tip:

  1. Boolean terms (AND, OR, NOT)
  2. The Wildcard character: *
  3. Multiple word keyphrases
  4. Using parentheses
  5. Special search terms



1: Boolean terms

AND

Search term: cat AND dog matches:

  • images with both keywords 'cat' and 'dog'.

*Note: if you enter keywords separated by spaces, these are converted to "AND" by our search engine. So typing cat dog is exactly the same as typing cat AND dog.

OR

Search term: cat OR dog matches:

  • images that have either keyword 'cat' or 'dog', or both keywords.

NOT

Search term: cat NOT dog matches:

  • images with the keyword 'cat' but not the keyword 'dog'.

2: The wildcard character: *

Search term: cat*

  • matches: images with any keyword beginning with 'cat' - eg 'cat', 'cats', 'catamaran', 'catalogue', etc.

Search term: *cat*

  • matches: images with any keyword containing 'cat' - eg 'indicate', 'cat', 'cats', 'catamaran', 'catalogue', etc.

3: Multiple word keyphrases

Search for exact, multiple-word keyphrases by enclosing them in quote marks - you can use either 'single quotes' or "double quotes". For example:

Search term: "small black cat" matches:

  • images with the exact multiple-word keyphrase 'small black cat'.

Compare this to searching for small black cat (without the quote marks), which matches images with all 3 keywords, but not necessarily in the one phrase. So you may get an image of a small lady sitting on a black motorbike with a huge, orange cat...

4: Using parentheses ( )

Use parentheses in a way similar to basic mathematics - anything outside (before) the parentheses is "multiplied" by the terms inside. It's easier to see how it works from these examples:

Search term: cat and (dog or mouse) matches:

  • images with the keywords 'cat' and 'dog'
  • images with the keywords 'cat' and 'mouse'

Search term: cat not (dog or mouse) matches:

  • images with the keyword 'cat' but not 'dog'
  • images with the keyword 'cat' but not 'mouse'

5: Special keyword types

All our images are keyworded using a standard set of terms, or a "controlled vocabulary". These are especially powerful when used in combination to filter your search down to a smaller, more accurate set of results, eg. baby AND headshot NOT b&w (so colour images of infant faces only).

Some of these terms are organised into special keyword types:

...which you can use by either:

  1. Entering the terms directly into the search box;
  2. Accessing them (one at a time) via the Browse by: horizontal menu; or
  3. Enabling them via the search panel.

Folio (featured images)

A selection of our very best images have been given special keywords beginning with "folio", and organised by theme (see the "featured" drop-down on the Browse by: menu). For example type folioCandid for our best candid-style images. Or you could try folioNatureAnimals and so on...

Location

'Location' is not a keyword in itself, but every image has the following location information - exact location, town/city, region/state, country, and continent. GPS metadata is also embedded and we are working on a way to integrate Google Maps or Google Earth into our site.

Rating (1 to 5 stars)

Rating1star / rating2stars / rating3stars / rating4stars / rating5stars
All images are rated from 1 to 5 stars as an approximate (and highly subjective) assessment of their technical and aesthetic quality. Because we are quite perfectionist, our rating system is fairly tough so while there are thousands of 1 and 2-star images, there are only a few 4-stars and so far no 5-stars! That gives us room to grow into...

Colour

Images with a dominant colour have one of the following keywords:

  • b&w (black and white)
  • monochrome (single-colour tint)
  • xprocess (cross-processed film look)
  • technicolour (lots of vivid colours)
  • red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, grey, silver, gold

People

Find people of a certain gender or age with:

  • noPeople
    Returns images without any human beings (as far as we can tell). So to find all images *with* people, you could type in NOT noPeople
  • male, female, baby, toddler, children, teenager, adult, 20s, 30s, 40s, middleAged, 50s, 60s, seniors, 70s, 80s

Scenes

Use these terms to help specify the visual nature of the image. Some can be combined (eg interior AND headshot) but others are mutually exclusive (eg you will get zero matches for interior AND exterior):

  • interior: typically architectural structures
  • exterior: for objects which also have an interior view
  • panoramic: wide-format vistas, typically landscapes or similar
  • headshot: tight shot on face or head and shoulders
  • half-length: head, shoulders, and upper torso possibly down to waist
  • full-length: full body in view from feet to head
  • profile: side-on shot of person or animal
  • rear view: person or animal viewed from behind
  • single: a lone person, animal, or object
  • two: two people, animals, or objects
  • group: three or more people, animals or objects
  • aerialview: view from high above
  • nightscene: after dark, often long-exposure
  • closeup: very close up, macro-style shot of something small
  • underwater: below the surface of water - eg scuba diving

Exposure

For the technically minded, you can also search by the camera settings at the moment the image was captured:

  • Aperture (fStop)
    N    ot a keyword in itself, instead use eg, f1.4, f2.8, f4 etc. Aperture or fStop represents the size of the diaphragm opening in the camera lens. This controls depth of field (DoF), or how much of the image is in sharp focus. DoF is also affected by the focal length (eg a wide-angle lens has more than a telephoto lens) and focus distance (close shots have less).

    • A large aperture like f1.4 has a very thin DoF and gives a more stylised, artistic and dreamy image; while
    • Small apertures like f16 yield much deeper DoF and are often used for landscapes where everything from foreground to the horizon should be in sharp focus.

    • You can also use very shallow DoF, shallow DoF, moderate DoF and deep DoF for more general searches

  • Shutterspeed
    Nnot a keyword itself either, try using eg, 10sec, 0.5sec, 0.01sec etc (for 10seconds, 1/2second and 1/100second respectively).

    You can also enter:
    • Long exposure:
    • Slow shutterspeed
    • Normal shutterspeed
    • Fast shutterspeed
    • Very fast shutterspeed

  • Focal Length
    You guessed it, also not a keyword but another technical term, referring to the type of lens mounted on the camera. Keywords to use include:
    • ultrawide: very wide angle of view and deep DoF so typically sharp from foreground well into distance (often interiors or landscapes)
    • wide angle: not as extreme as above
    • standard field of view: 50mm, gives normal perspective
    • telephoto: zoomed in with compressed field of view and less depth of field (backgrounds are softer and more out-of-focus)

      Or just enter an exact focal length like 24mm, 50mm etc.

  • ISO
    The "speed rating" or light-sensitivity of film, or a digital SLR camera's sensor. During the day with plenty of light, ISO100 or ISO200 is typically used, however as the light decreases it is often necessary to increase the ISO to ISO400, ISO800 or ISO1600 in order to maintain a fast shutterspeed and avoid blurry images due to subject or camera movement.

    Image quality decreases as ISO goes up through the appearance of visual "noise", however with today's professional-grade sensors, in most cases the quality is still excellent up to 800, and very good even at 1600, especially for smaller print sizes (though this can vary from photo to photo).


Please contact us if you need more help finding the images you need.