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Let's Talk Watermarks...

2008.04.04

So a few people have mentioned the watermark you sometimes see on some of my photos.

I am in no way concerned or worried about somebody wanting to steal my photos. I really don't think they are that much in demand ;)

If you really look, you'll see it's only present on photos that show my childrens' faces in a prominent way.

What I am worried about is one of my child's photos being stolen and then used in some unseemly way. I know this is not happening often but I have heard of it happening.

So, the way I've chosen to help protect us is by watermarking the photo in a way that cannot be cropped out & is difficult to airbrush out. I also downsize the photo making it undesirable for re-printing/posting.

I do agree that it is very distracting & not good for the look of the photo. I personally don't care for watermarks.
If anyone has any other ideas for protecting photos (short of not posting them), I'd love to hear them!
18 Comments
veganess This is a great shot.....love the sunlight on the face.
veganess · 2008-04-04: 22:49
leocheung Lovely smile, natural pose, great lighting. Like the blur, slightly diagonal background with some scattered violet flowers.
leocheung · 2008-04-04: 22:59
oakley Great shot! Cute!

Have a great weekend!

Mike:)
oakley · 2008-04-04: 23:03
basisimages Nice shot. And you do what you want to do - it's risk management, I guess.
basisimages · 2008-04-04: 23:37
mojaroo great shot once again
mojaroo · 2008-04-05: 00:14
ronin53 You are right, that's why I do not post any portrait of my beloved 3 yearas daughter... and it is sad to see that few of our friends read the text you wrote so gently. Sometimes I wonder if I'm too anxious but, then again, I guess I can save those shots for my family only.
Two days ago, in Italy, there was a police operation to arrest 25 "sex tourists" who had huge collections of children pics in their computers and not one of them is a photographer.
Thanks for the strong clear right reminder! :-)
ronin53 · 2008-04-05: 01:14
sistatitoune i'm agree with you !!! protect them !!! :-)
sistatitoune · 2008-04-05: 06:25
glennis Great take!--- so natural! And I totally understand your way of thinking.
glennis · 2008-04-05: 06:29
ambersunsets Beautiful portrait. Don't know of any suggestions, but I do understand your rationale.
ambersunsets · 2008-04-05: 09:26
coyoteself As usual you have an excellent picture, and you bring up a very good point. I don't blame you for watermarking your photos the way you do and it's a very sad fact that we have to do that. I'm fortuante in a way, because all my kids are adults now, but at the same time, I would not be happy if someone manipulated any of my photos of my kids from here in any sort of inappropriate way.

Sadly, I agree with California5 and I know that I have seen sites in the past where photos (An avatars) could be protected with a "Frame" so that they could not be copied or download. Maybe we need to do a little bit of research for Photoblog and if this technology does exist, request thatPhotoblog give us the option to use it.

coyoteself · 2008-04-05: 14:09
coyoteself Well that didn't take long to figure out. Gotta love Google nullGoogle search for protecting internet photographs

There's a lot of information about "Right Click Protection" and "Cloaking." it appears that Right Click Protection only keeps honest people honest and if someone want your photo bad enough, they can still get it. Cloaking on the other hand is like putting a transparent image of your photo, over your photo and when someone tries to copy your photo, they only get a transparent image...or something like that.
coyoteself · 2008-04-05: 14:24
jenjung I agree with everyone that it is so sad that we have to do this kind of thing to protect our children, ourselves and our work.

BTW - I don't think your watermark is all that distracting.
jenjung · 2008-04-05: 18:05
bchat Beautiful photo. Important subject. Reasonable and responsible approach. Well stated. Let's keep working on this pblog!
bchat · 2008-04-05: 20:06
ccrowe13 Beautiful picture! I, too, have thought about the safety factor of posting my child's pictures. I may adopt your approach. Thanks for the gentle reminder!
ccrowe13 · 2008-04-05: 20:23
Najeli She is beautiful!! THe shot is so sunny and happy :)
Najeli · 2008-04-06: 07:03
ncshutterbug Such a pretty shot of such a pretty girl. :)
ncshutterbug · 2008-04-06: 16:48
emmetan this is.... so pretty
emmetan · 2008-04-06: 17:57
Lovethenerds Its a cute picture (im not sure if your still checking these posts...) But I know that its pretty "pretty" easy to photoshop those marks out...it takes time but if somebody wanted it bad enough its possible to do in like... (well i can do it in like an hour) but im slow... I have no way of telling you how to get them from being "stolen" or umm... "used in a indecent way" but I figured I would just point that out :)
Lovethenerds · 2008-05-02: 17:14
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