Recently Mike wrote a post regarding the use or non use, as the case may be, of watermarking your photography. I want to give you my two cents on why I choose to watermark my photographs.
First I will say I agree with Mike that a watermark shouldn’t be a distraction. If you choose to use a watermark make sure its well designed and not a visual distraction. If you aren’t handy with fonts, consider paying a design professional to create a unique logo for you to help you stand out. With powerful apps like Watermark+ you can determine color, density and size of your watermark to minimize the visual impact on your image.
Second, I believe in branding. By creating a unique logo that you use consistently over all your social media platforms, you will help fans identify you as the source of your creative photography faster. Images are passed around on the web, that is a fact of life, so why not have a way for people to quickly identify you as the original creator? I’m not a particularly lazy person and even I wouldn’t do a reverse image search; I certainly don’t expect the average toy photography fan to do one.
I was intrigued by Mike’s comment that he wants his images to look their best on the Internet. For me that is not a concern. With social media apps like Instagram, that limit size and shape, I think that expectation is unrealistic. I want my images to look their best when they are hanging on someone’s wall, not being looked at on a computer, or worse yet, a mobile device.
Finally, the most important reason I watermark my images is pride. Frankly I’m proud of the images I take and I want the world to know I took them. Just like I sign and number all my prints for sale, I watermark all my photographs; my watermark is essentially my digital signature.
I respect anyones decision to watermark or not; there are no easy answers to this question. I personally feel the pros of watermarking outweigh the cons, if the watermark is well designed and applied tastefully.
~xxsjc
If you have any further questions you can contact my intellectual property lawyer.
Which camp do you fall into and why?
While I may be a wee one walking amongst the giants in this group, I starting using a watermark about a year ago. I don’t think of myself as pro or master but it did sting when that little photo was being claimed by someone else. It’s a risk we all take when we post on the web, but with the guidance of some in this group I did create a watermark and use it occasionally.
Margaret it does hurt when someone takes your photo without asking. There is nothing quite like the shock of seeing your photo where it doesn’t belong. I hope using a watermark has made a difference for you. It doesn’t matter how big or small a photographers reputation, we are all here to learn from each other.
Cheers!!
Right there with you, Shelly. Appreciate you putting this into words. I’m a new reader of this site, and really enjoying the depth you all put into these articles. I don’t know how I’ve missed connecting with you after nearly two years of toy photography on Instagram!
Hi Teddi! Thanks for taking a deep dive into the blog. I wrote this a long time ago, but re reading it now, my feelings still hold true. Watermarks are for me as much as they are for the audience. Ive gone to a slightly more subtle watermark, but its always on my images somewhere. I hope that you will become a regular reader now that you’ve found us. And say ‘hi!’ on either IG or G+ so we can connect there too. 🙂