i couldnt wait to post this one

tsaraleksi · Dec 28, 2008

chrisburke said:
sorry but I have to say your 100% wrong here... people steal images ALL THE TIME...

example number 1
just a few months ago we were introduced on the forum to some guy named justin, who had created a site for HIS images taken of hurricane katrina, among other things as well.. and he claimed that he was trying to raise money for victims through the selling of HIS images... right away we all caught on to it being a scam... and then some savvy TPF people did some research on all the pictures, and found out that EVERY SINGLE ONE was stolen from other people... how could they have avoided having their images stolen??? big nasty watermarks that are hard to remove....

example number 2
there is a local photographer in my area who runs a business, does weddings, portraits, children, pets, you name it, she seems to do it... however, about 6 months ago, another photographer friend of mine noticed that some of her pictures were being displayed on this photographers site, claiming them as her own...

people steal images all the time, so its best to protect yourself.

i used photoshop, and the EMBOSS filter... and i also dropped the opacity down to around 10% or so so it became see through

If you read what I said, obviously if you are producing newsworthy images, or saleable stuff in terms of weddings, etc etc, then it is different, but if you're not selling prints, and your intention is to display for comment on forums or show to people online, then it's a waste of effort and makes it much tougher to get comments from people (considering that they can't see half the image).

If you feel like you must watermark over the entire shot, then it's better to do something like Getty Images (who more than anyone has to worry about stolen shots) and put the name of your site or business in the middle of the frame semi-opaque. All of the embossing and whatnot makes it nearly impossible to see the picture underneath.

edit: I will say I had a picture of Hillary Clinton and her would-be running mate, Evan Bayh, that got stolen by a pro-Hillary, anti-Obama blog. I found it really late in the election season and didn't bother asking for it to be taken down because it made me laugh a little.
edit II: it's still up, actually, here at the "Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin Blog.

Flower Child · Dec 28, 2008

SpeedTrap said:
I think you did a wonderful job on this one and you should be proud of it.

thanks so much for your kindness SpeedTrap. and i admit--im a little proud,this is my first post that has got 2 pages of response

Dick Sanders said:
Hello FlowerChild: Gorgeous photo, beautiful light, and very warm and inviting. You were right to remove the distracting room in the upper left, but leaving it black isn't right either. My suggestion is to copy and paste the upper right background into its own layer, flip it horizontal, move in to position on left upper corner, erase the edges as needed to blend in, then adjust the levels to your liking. I did that in this edit, and I also lightened the lower left foreground a bit. This gives you a more balanced picture, and even shows chairs in the left rear. Finally, let me say this was a quick edit job in PhotoShop to give you an idea for improvement. If you need more details, just let me know, or if it's not to your liking, tell me and I'll delete it. Again -- nice photo!

oh wow! your edit looks great. it looks much less BLACK. i especailly like the lightened foreground.you are quite the photoshop wizard.thank you for taking the time to show me this trick. i will definetly use it in the future.

Dick Sanders · Dec 28, 2008

FC: I do primarily street portraits that require very little PhotoShopping, but for something to do Wednesday nights, I went to a PhotoShop class for years where we worked on all kinds of photos in a small group, everybody contributing his/her ideas. I've forgotten probably 80% of what I've learned, but I remember enough to help out a bit here.

Glad I could help. And thanks for telling me so.

manaheim · Dec 28, 2008

Neat pic, but seems kinda tight in the crop a bit? Seems like a portrait of this one would work out nicely.

Ejazzle · Dec 28, 2008

nice shot. the black hole is a bit distracting though...

why do you guys put a watermark on a picture thats not even big enough to put on the front of match box.

do you think someone is gonna steal your 800x600 picture?

elemental · Dec 29, 2008

Ejazzle said:
nice shot. the black hole is a bit distracting though...

why do you guys put a watermark on a picture thats not even big enough to put on the front of match box.

do you think someone is gonna steal your 800x600 picture?

I'm glad someone mentioned this.

I worked with a woman last summer who paid her way through her undergraduate education working in graphic design. She laughed about watermarks- her favorite part of her work, it seemed, was removing the watermarks of arrogant photographers who thought they were "protected." Her thoughts, not mine. Yes, I know this was illegal. I didn't do it and I'm not condoning it. Just letting you know what the people who are stealing your images think about watermarks.

One thing that's extremely difficult to work around, however, is image size. If someone wants to sell my images to raise money for a bogus charity, good luck. The largest images I upload are 534x800, which will make a nice 2x3 inch print. Could they be reused for Internet display? Yes. However, they're not going to make prints.

Another thing I always consider is why exactly someone would want my images. To be honest, it seems to me like ninety percent of the photography I see on here with watermarks is the sort of personal work that wouldn't be especially interesting to these mystical image thieves. Pictures of babies and pets and things of that nature.

I really think that the best way to protect your images is to keep them small when they go online and to keep the ones you are not willing to risk off the Internet entirely. There is no way to guarantee protection. The biggest ugliest watermark can and will be defeated by someone who really wants to. The threat of image theft is just part of the game, and if you aren't willing to run the risk, the only way to do so is to keep your images to yourself.