Just for the record, I hate having to string my name across my images. I find it distracting beyond measure.
I wanted to take a moment here to talk about the why of copyright because I know many of you are annoyed by the whole thing. The watermarks are embedded to keep people from taking any posted image and distributing it as they please. Between you and me, the wedding images are kind of personal to the bride and groom… yes, I hold the intellectual property rights but, in the end, these are private photos. In this definition, I am not worried about someone posting a couple of my images for their friends and I hope they don’t mind having my name on them. The real rub is the Craig’s List sort of guy who decides to farm legitimate sites for good work that he can use to build an online portfolio. The work isn’t his and he brings all of the legitimate shooters down in the process. There isn’t really any way to warn potential clients about this but they need to know, going in, that fraud runs rampant in our lives these days… you truly have to do your homework to avoid it.
Portland has a very large and wonderful community of true and professional photographers… don’t get sucked into the dark side. Just saying…
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Jamie! People tend to feel that if it’s on the internet, it’s free. Nothing could be further from the truth. And your point about dishonest and immoral photographers farming sites is also true. Seems that every week I read about someones photos ending up on another photographer’s site.
Copyright also protects the rights of the artist to benefit or profit from their hard work and unique point of view. The very thing that makes people hire you in the first place. Because you are providing MORE than just the service of photography.
Hi Jamie,
I found your site today on Oregon Bride Magazine and your photos are simply lovely. Also great post!
Maalaea
Well said Jamie!