Watermarking

Great info from today's SF Chronicle newspaper...

Q: I'm starting a personal Web site that will include photographs I've taken through the years. I'd like to make it so viewers can't copy or save the photos. I've visited sites where a pop-up will appear saying something like "You are not allowed to copy this" when you right-click and attempt to save an image. How can I enable this feature for my page?

A: You can prevent right-clicking of images by adding a simple piece of code to your Web site, but it's not a foolproof solution. A clever user might be able to extract a photo from a browser's cache or use screen-capture software to save it. Also, the right-click trick may not work if the user has disabled JavaScript in the browser.

A better option would be to watermark your photos with your name, a warning about unauthorized use, or a copyright notice. Watermarks can be placed so they don't interfere with viewing photos, but might dissuade Web site visitors from copying them.

Programs including Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro let you watermark groups of photos. Or, you could use a software program designed for the task, such as Picture-shark (free at picture-shark.com) or Visual Watermark ($34.95 at visualwatermark.com).

By the way, you don't have to register or pay in order to copyright a photo you've taken. Just add a notice that includes the copyright symbol (press the "c" key while holding down the Alt and Ctrl keys).

Photography in Restaurants

I love taking pics of the meals I have in restaurants to act as a sort of visual diary on my blog, however the lighting levels are usually frustratingly low, begging the question - to use flash or not? In my recent post here you can see a mixture of pics taken with and without flash - and even when I've fiddled with them in Adobe Photoshop the levels are pretty rubbish and the colours aren't true. Obviously the ideal would be to always take pics in full natural daylight, but does anyone have any tips to improve the quality of pictures when this just isn't an option?!

This Post was written by Fahara from Souperior

(photos) open question to headmistress Sam

Sam,

I have noticed recently that your images have become HUGE (~200-250k) compared to what they were a while back. My guess is that this is tactical (anti-scrapers or such) but I figured I'd ask why you are going for this kind of file size. I was going to send mail but I also thought that others might be interested in your answer and reasoning. Because you always have good reasons for such.

Thanks for enlightening me!

This Post was written by kitchenMage from kitchenMage

[Uploading and Posting Photos] Blogger hosted photos are blurry!

Forgive me if this has already been discussed - I didn't see it on the sidebar and nothing came up on a search (but I know the Blogger search function doesn't work all that well)..........

Anyway, I was posting photos to my blog and then to Flickr for my Flickr badge. I suddenly realized that the Blogger hosted image was very blurry while the Flickr hosted photo was quite sharp and clear.

I don't remember this always being the case........has something changed? Are they compressing photos to save on space?

Here's a link to my blog that shows the difference, which I think happens to be quite a large difference.

Looks like I won't be using Blogger for photo storage any longer............

This Post was written by Alysha from The Savory Notebook

[Photography] How can I ID my photos?

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I am wondering if someone can explain (in really basic language) how I can put a watermark or other identifier on the pictures I post on my site. (Like Mae does. Or Sam. Both of whom seem to be really photo-savvy.)

Since my pictures show up on other sites with some frequency, I'd like to have them identified as mine.

I am NOT tech savvy, and don't have Photoshop. Is there any other really basic (PC) method I could use to do this? I edit my pictures with Picasa.

Thanks in advance...(and sorry if this was discussed before...I did a search, but for some reason with new blogger, the "search" function doesn't work for me anymore.)

This Post was written by Rachael from Fresh Approach

[Photography & Pictures] Payment and Attribution for Photos

Quite a few friends have asked me what to do if a publication asks for permission to use their photos. My answer is always the same, and I thought I'd just put it out here for discussion:

- Ask them what they pay for photos. You're not going to make a ton of money on the sale of a photo, so it's not really the amount as much as it is proving a point that your photos are worth something, and that publications need to have a budget for that. It helps photographers everywhere when people ask this question. And it helps publications to know that web photos are not "freebies" that can be used instead of professional photos.

- Insist on attribution. And try for a www link as well.

- Make sure you understand the scope of where the photo is going to be used (one-time use, on a single www page or on multiple properties, in print, unlimited use, etc).

- Go for it!

I still stand by these guidelines, but would say that they are loose guidelines, to be considered but not necessarily followed to the letter of the law.

A couple days ago, I was approached by a newspaper and was offered attribution but no pay*. And I went for it. Even though I know that it wasn't going very far to help "the cause" of getting photographers paid, I was getting attribution in a print edition of nationally read, top 5 newspaper. In my mind, it was a win for me as it would help to build my publication portfolio, and I didn't have to do any extra work for the credit.

It was the first time I had allowed a print publication to use a photo of mine without paying.

I also wanted to go easy on the publication, giving them a break for at least tracking me down and asking if they could use my photo - unlike Mrs. D's experience last year.

*I should say that I was offered this after directly asking the questions. I have never seen a media org answer questions about pay, attribution, or use unless they are asked about it.

What has been your experience when dealing with traditional media on photos you've taken? Have you had any success?

This Post was written by Jen Maiser from Life Begins @ 30.