Copyright
A Note To All Blog Viewers
Please remember that all content and images on this blog belong to me, and are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws. It is illegal to copy, save, print, or reproduce in anyway without my express written permission. To do so is theft. Please, don't.
Why Are Professional Photographs Watermarked?
by Cristy Nielsen & Yolanda Rowe
As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children. We teach them to look both ways before crossing the street and many other ways to be safe. Photographers have the same responsibility to their work. Each photograph is important--not just because they are our livelihood but because they are portraits of special people: our clients. To protect our work and our clients, we watermark every image that appears online. We hope to discourage unethical people who steal from photographers by copying and using images for their purposes without authorization or compensating the copyright owner and subjects.
For example, let's say your photographer posts preview images on a social networking site such as Facebook or Myspace. These photos are intended to show the client a preview of what their session images will look like. If they are not watermarked they cannot be identified back to the photographer who created the image and they could be stolen by a third party and used without permission. This has happened on numerous occasions by companies who will use photographs for their marketing campaigns and then photographers or their clients have found their images and photos on the sides of buses, on billboards, etc. Imagine finding a photo of you or your child on a flyer or website for some random company when you didn't give permission for it to be used in that way and you will begin to understand why photographers watermark to protect their work.
Federal law is very clear on the copyright of images. The creator of the image (the photographer) is the owner of those rights. A client pays the photographer to take those images, but it does not give them ownership (rights) to what is created. Even if the client purchases a file or print it does not give the client copyright to the image. They are given a license to do certain things. This is called a Usage License and it is illegal to scan or copy it and use it in any way other than which it was intended: displaying the print itself. Even purchasing prints does not give the client copyright to the image and it is illegal to alter, scan, or copy it and use it in a way other than its intent. Copyright is held by the image creator for 70 years by law and infringement is punishable by up to $150,000 in fines PER image.
While it may seem like no big deal to make additional copies of an image, or crop out watermarks in web versions of photos, truly it is a big deal. A photographer works very hard on their images, and this is their livelihood, source of income and how they feed their family. When you copy and scan images you are taking part of the income that they depend on to stay in business and serve their clients in the first place. Watermarking is a necessary evil to protect photographers, to protect their work and their job security. As Yolanda says "Copyright is like your vehicle. You can give someone the keys to drive it (granting permission to a client) but it doesn't make them the owner of the vehicle."
For more information on copyright please visit
Why Are Professional Photographs Watermarked?
by Cristy Nielsen & Yolanda Rowe
As parents, we do everything we can to protect our children. We teach them to look both ways before crossing the street and many other ways to be safe. Photographers have the same responsibility to their work. Each photograph is important--not just because they are our livelihood but because they are portraits of special people: our clients. To protect our work and our clients, we watermark every image that appears online. We hope to discourage unethical people who steal from photographers by copying and using images for their purposes without authorization or compensating the copyright owner and subjects.
For example, let's say your photographer posts preview images on a social networking site such as Facebook or Myspace. These photos are intended to show the client a preview of what their session images will look like. If they are not watermarked they cannot be identified back to the photographer who created the image and they could be stolen by a third party and used without permission. This has happened on numerous occasions by companies who will use photographs for their marketing campaigns and then photographers or their clients have found their images and photos on the sides of buses, on billboards, etc. Imagine finding a photo of you or your child on a flyer or website for some random company when you didn't give permission for it to be used in that way and you will begin to understand why photographers watermark to protect their work.
Federal law is very clear on the copyright of images. The creator of the image (the photographer) is the owner of those rights. A client pays the photographer to take those images, but it does not give them ownership (rights) to what is created. Even if the client purchases a file or print it does not give the client copyright to the image. They are given a license to do certain things. This is called a Usage License and it is illegal to scan or copy it and use it in any way other than which it was intended: displaying the print itself. Even purchasing prints does not give the client copyright to the image and it is illegal to alter, scan, or copy it and use it in a way other than its intent. Copyright is held by the image creator for 70 years by law and infringement is punishable by up to $150,000 in fines PER image.
While it may seem like no big deal to make additional copies of an image, or crop out watermarks in web versions of photos, truly it is a big deal. A photographer works very hard on their images, and this is their livelihood, source of income and how they feed their family. When you copy and scan images you are taking part of the income that they depend on to stay in business and serve their clients in the first place. Watermarking is a necessary evil to protect photographers, to protect their work and their job security. As Yolanda says "Copyright is like your vehicle. You can give someone the keys to drive it (granting permission to a client) but it doesn't make them the owner of the vehicle."
For more information on copyright please visit
MODEL CALL
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Collier Family
I had the pleasure last weekend of meeting and photographing the Collier family. We decided on the Bicentennial Mall beneath the State Capitol Building. It was a great location, beautiful weather, and a wonderful family. Thanks, guys!
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Carter
It's that hectic, busy time of year again, and it makes keeping up with the blog more difficult. I've been busy photographing all the pre-school kids and will share some of those in a few weeks. But yesterday, I had the pleasure of photographing baby Carter!
Carter is the third child of my friends Robert + Wendy, and I spent several hours at their home yesterday. Carter is just 8 days old and so sweet and snugly! I loved getting my baby fix.
Robert and Wendy--thanks for sharing Carter with me. And I really enjoyed getting a chance to catch up with you guys, too. Hope we see you again soon!
Carter is the third child of my friends Robert + Wendy, and I spent several hours at their home yesterday. Carter is just 8 days old and so sweet and snugly! I loved getting my baby fix.
Robert and Wendy--thanks for sharing Carter with me. And I really enjoyed getting a chance to catch up with you guys, too. Hope we see you again soon!
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Chris
I had such a lovely experience working with Chris last night. She's a beautiful person, inside and out. Chris is a writer, and needed some portraits for her blog. (I'll be happy to link it here when it's ready to go!) So we met at her beautiful home and photographed her in some of her favorite places. I've just begun the editing/processing, but here's a little sneak peak:
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Maggie
Tonight I had the pleasure of photographing Maggie. Maggie is a senior in high school, and a beautiful, poised and intelligent young lady. The photograph's were taken at her family's farm, which was truly lovely. I am very much looking forward to photographing Maggie's parents and siblings next week! Just a delightful family!
Here's a little sneak peak form Maggie's session:
Here's a little sneak peak form Maggie's session:
Monday, July 06, 2009
Molleigh + Aleah
Had fun this morning with my BFF Rebekah Pope, photographing her daughter Aleah, and Aleah's BFF Molleigh. We took the girls down to Edgehill Village and had a great time. Aleah has the most gorgeous eyes and lips! And Molleigh has such pretty eyes and a great smile. Makes me miss my daughter--and favorite model-- even more. Had some fun with vintage processing and textures on a few of these.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Emmy
Just who could resist this face? Little Emmy looks so Irish with her reddish curls and her green eyes. How stinkin' cute is she?
Monday, June 08, 2009
If you wondered why I haven't gotten back to everyone...
I've been in Ireland! I had a fantastic time, fell in love with Ireland, and can't wait to go back. I took nearly 2,000 photographs, so there's no way I can share them all. But here's a bunch--I hope you enjoy them! If you have any questions about any of them, just leave a comment and I will respond.
Now, I am trying to get caught up on everything in my voicemail and my email while I was gone. For some reason, my iphone would NOT work over there, and I couldn't get to my phone, email, or voicemail the entire time I was gone. Please be patient, and I will get back to you.
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