You don't necessarily HAVE to put citation for your own images, but to show professional it doesn't hurt. When large curation groups look through posts to curate, image ownership is a BIG search. So it's always good to just let everyone know.. these are mine.

In regards to getting large curation votes and being found, every curation has different requirements and guidelines. Sometimes they have their criteria listed, most usually not.

So they best advice I have first-
check out this post from last week I did with @davemccoy. I offer up some ideas and tips.

Also, make your post look at perfect as you can. Check and double check the spelling, syntax and formatting. As simple s it sound, if spelling is off, formatting looks cluttered and amateurish; curators may skip over your post for another member's post who has a cleaner and more unified post.