I once had a friend tell me that her client had taken screen shots of their session pictures off their client gallery without ever ordering a single print. She discovered this by visiting the client's personal blog one day and noticing her picture on their blog. Is there anything we can do as photographers to protect ourselves from the same thing happening to us?
Sure, you can do all sorts of things to protect yourself from these risks, but the harsh reality is that nothing is safe online.
Today was proof positive. This morning I received a message on Facebook from a friend of mine from one of my past photography classes. She wrote to warn me that she was able to down-load my images and even read my file names. I dropped everything and quickly went through every single post, removed all the images, renamed the files, then reloaded them back on to each post - making sure not to give any detailed information about the people appearing in my blog.
It was time-consuming, but it was the wake-up call I needed. I thought I was safe. After all, I had added my watermark and resized all my images. But, I hadn't thought about the file names. Who knew? My husband, a software engineering genius, reiterated to me that there is no possible way to keep people from downloading your work. Anything can be hacked. Sure, some steps can be taken to make it harder, but it is always possible.
With that in mind, especially since several of you reading my blog are just now starting your own photography businesses, I thought it would be helpful to give a few pointers toward safeguarding the images you put on the web. Just keep in mind that these are only safeguards. Your files may still be downloaded. The key is to make your files as tamper proof as possible. Below are some tips:
1. Resize all images for the web to the lowest resolution possible where they still look good.
2. Imprint your watermark on every image.
3. Be sure your file names are generic. They should not include the client's name or other detailed information.
4. Be sure your clients sign a model release form. You should communicate with them that you retain the copyright to all images taken during their session - even if a print is ordered.
5. If you have a website, it should contain this year's copyright line with your business name. Mine says "All images copyright Tammy Labuda Photography 2008."
Each year you will need to change the date to the current year.
6. If you have a website, choose a FLASH site.
7. Register your images with Digimarc.
8. Check out this site for additional tips.
Sure there are risks with having your work online. But the benefits far outweigh the risks. One of the greatest benefits to having your work online is your ability to share your work with your clients, mentors, and peers. Today alone the web made it possible for Anjula to keep an eye out for me and for Colleen to equip me by providing the link found in tip #8. Thank you ladies! You're the best!
The web is also a fantastic place to go to glean inspiration from others in the field and to research the latest techniques and trends. Speaking of inspiration, there are several photographers who have personally taken the time to share their wisdom, experience, tips, and encouragement with me. Whether it be answering each and every email question I send their way or spending hours of their time with me on the phone, their wisdom and advice has made me a better photographer, professional, and person. More importantly, their work inspires me to reach higher ground with my own photography career. See for yourself!
Thanks to the web, I visit their sites regularly. In the future I would like to highlight a few of these individuals. Who knows? You may even see an interview or a guest blog from one of them from time to time. Hopefully their work will inspire you as it does me.
There are many other photographer and creative friends (newbies like me) who have inspired me and encouraged me this past year. Colleen, Anjula, Kara, Stephanie M, Katherine, Margaret, Jennie - just to name a few - thank you for your friendship, honesty, integrity, humility, and especially your creativity!
I end with this: Terry Weir once encouraged our class to spend our time looking only at the work of photographers and other creative professionals who have surpassed our level of technical and creative work. Looking at sites whose work is not as good as ours, he argued, will never inspire us to grow. I ask you this question: Who inspires you to grow!
Terry, you are one wise man. I'm so very thankful for you!
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