Using ChatGPT to Caption and Keyword Photographs

Written By Charles Bush
A Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) soars across a vivid blue sky with its wings fully extended, showcasing vibrant pink plumage and graceful flight.

Roseate Spoonbill in Flight with Wings Spread Against Blue Sky

When you're sitting in front of thousands of images, getting them properly identified and cataloged can feel like climbing a mountain. But with a little help from ChatGPT, you can streamline filling in your IPTC metadata fields and make your photography library far more searchable and valuable.

IPTC

Metadata What is it

If you're new to the term, Photo Metadata IPTC is simply information embedded into your image files. Think of it as your photo's biography - it helps describe the what, who, and where of the image.

Describes Content

  • Subject of the photo

  • Location details

  • Copyright information

  • Creator information

All those little details add up to a big payoff later when you're trying to find or sell your work.

Fields

Keywords

  • Key search terms associated with your image

  • Helps search engines and agencies find your work

Captions / Descriptions

  • A short sentence describing the image

  • Required for agencies like Alamy

Titles / Headlines

  • A brief, punchy title that catches attention

  • Useful for blog posts and galleries

Creator

  • Your name, as the photographer

Copyright Notice

  • Protects your rights and informs users how the image can (or can't) be used

Limitations When Using Raw Files

  • Raw files (like .NEF or .CR2) don't embed IPTC as easily

  • You often have to sidecar this data (e.g., in XMP files)

Why IPTC

Discoverable

Having the right IPTC metadata isn't just "nice" — it's essential. Here's where it makes a real difference:

Alamy Stock Agency

  • Alamy requires 50 keywords for an image to rank as "highly discoverable"

  • Previously, finding 50 good, accurate keywords was nearly impossible and very time consuming

  • Good metadata makes your images rank higher in search results

Squarespace Web Site

  • Squarespace best practices recommend a title and caption for every image

  • The title and caption should closely match the image details for best SEO performance

  • Again, manually doing this for hundreds of images was extremely time consuming

Computer

  • Makes finding old photos easy using Spotlight or apps like Houdahspot

Lightroom

  • Enables powerful searches across your entire catalog

  • Filters by keywords, captions, and more

Applications

Entry

Here are the tools you can use to enter metadata manually:

Lightroom

Photo Mechanic

GraphicConverter

Adobe Bridge

Lightroom Classic

Each has different strengths, but all allow IPTC entry directly into your images.

View

You can view existing metadata in:

Lightroom

Photo Mechanic

GraphicConverter

Adobe Bridge

Houdahspot

Lightroom Classic

ChatGPT

Improve and Expand Upon

ChatGPT can help take your metadata to the next level by:

Captions

  • Writing engaging and SEO-friendly captions

  • Expanding simple descriptions into story-rich narratives

Keywords

  • Generating long, varied keyword lists

  • Using synonyms and related concepts to boost discoverability

  • Making it easy to reach the 50 keyword requirement for Alamy

Headlines / Titles

  • Crafting catchy, blog and gallery-ready titles

  • Optimizing for SEO without sounding robotic

Because

Automate the Entry of IPTC Data for Website and Stock Agency

  • Cut hours off your workflow

  • Ensure consistent, professional metadata

  • I use ChatGPT specifically for generating Keywords, Captions, and Titles for all of my images

Reduce the Time to Make Files Discoverable Online

  • Get your new work online faster

  • Improve the SEO value immediately

Meet the Squarespace and Alamy Best Practices for SEO

  • Higher search rankings

  • Better visibility on agency and personal websites

Be Able to Find Files on Computer

  • No more digging endlessly for "that great egret shot"

  • Faster, smarter photo management

Coming Soon: I'll be writing another blog post covering how I use code replacement in Photo Mechanic to automate entering IPTC data, aided by data generated by ChatGPT. I'll also dive into how I use TextExpander to automate the process even further when working in applications like Lightroom Classic, and when updating metadata for images on both my website and Alamy.

Example: Roseate Spoonbill in Flight Against Blue Sky

Basic Description:
A Roseate Spoonbill soars across a vivid blue sky with its wings fully extended, showing off its brilliant pink plumage and signature spoon-shaped bill.

Title:
Roseate Spoonbill in Flight with Wings Spread Against Blue Sky

Caption:
A Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) soars across a vivid blue sky with its wings fully extended, showcasing vibrant pink plumage and graceful flight.

Keywords (50):
Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea ajaja, spoonbill, pink bird, flying bird, bird in flight, wading bird, spoon-shaped bill, large wings, pink wings, Louisiana wildlife, marsh bird, wetland bird, blue sky, soaring bird, flight feathers, colorful bird, bird profile, bird photography, birdwatching, bird flight, avian flight, exotic bird, tropical bird, Florida bird, Texas bird, South Louisiana, vivid sky, clear blue sky, wildlife photography, swamp bird, bird species, water bird, migratory bird, aquatic bird, spoonbill flight, pink plumage, flight pose, open wings, blue background, elegant bird, graceful bird, coastal bird, estuary bird, vibrant bird, Roseate Spoonbill flight, wading bird species, wild bird, natural flight, bird behavior, wildlife in motion

Charles Bush
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