jen

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stealing is bad. :)

watermark's.

no I'm not talking about Enya's cd ;)(yes, I realize that there were about none of you who even know who enya is.) ;)nope, I'm explaining why I put my watermark on every image (outside of my website - it's protected).what is a watermark?well, it's the kreatid logo I put on every single one of my images I post on this blog.some of my clients have asked why I do, so here you go a fairly simple explanation...some photographers put it on to get their name out there...not really my reason, although it's nice when my clients want the world to know who took their pictures by leaving it on their social media images...I don't do any advertising outside of word-of-mouth and nothing, I mean NOTHING makes my day than when my client loves the images I took for them so much that they want to declare it to the world! :)nope, I give my clients images without the logo and they can choose to do what they want with their images.so then why do I put it on for my facebook business site and blog?well, mainly because I follow this site:

Photo Stealer's.

it's a self-funded site run by a reformed lawyer now photographer who got fed up with theft.and mainly theft from people posing as better photographers than they are.it's not a secret that photographers are everywhere.some of the really ambitious will get a camera as a gift and then want to open up shop right away.there is nothing wrong with that.I say there is nothing wrong with that as long as you use your own images andseek to build your own portfolio using your own images.only problem is, is that some of these ambitious people get impatient and frustrated and aren't willing to put the time, energy, effort into learning how to use their own camera's...kind-of ironic if you're going to set up shop and sell your talent as a business.this is where the frustrated mistake of thinking that "if I just had a "fancy" camera, I would instantly be a success" comes in.nope, it takes hours of research, trial and error, then more research, then more education, then more "guinea pigs" willing to be in front of your camera for trial and error, and then even more research to figure out that fancy camera...at least it has in my experience and I'm still not done learning!it's slightly cheesy but oh so true:"there is no short-cut to success." pogo, illustrated it well with this poster:smalleffortsthen these ambitious, impatient people then make the only fatal mistake you can make as a photographer.they steal images from other photographers.yes, I know the word "steal" is a harsh word...but it is what it is.whether they borrow an image from shutter-stock for advertising for their mini-sessions,or actual steal an image from pinterest sorta claiming it's inspiration for what they would like to photograph...it's not right.give credit where credit is due to grow your business.or photograph the inspired pinterest image as best you can rather than just posting a dream.I'm not arrogant enough to assume that someone would want to steal anything I produce,but I'm not willing to risk it.the internet is full of all-kinds of people and I don't assume that all are of sound mind not to steal.why am I writing this today?well, I noticed a few times in my facebook feed this morning with the blood lunar moon last night...nope, I was sawing serious Z's and missed it. :)but there were a few people/friends who lifted actual photographers photographs of the moon and didn't give credit to who took the image.in my opinion...that's as close to stealing as you can get from a photographer.I know some of you who read this probably did so unintentionally, which is why I'm writing...in an effort to be a good person,I would give credit to the photographer who you borrowed that beautiful image from.it will make their day...all that effort, research + learning they put into learning how to use that fancy camera they could use a pat on the back in your facebook newsfeed. :)so there's the reason...pretty simple.watermarking images makes it harder to steal.and stealing is bad. ;)