Watermarks

As I was working on some recent photos, I was seriously considering doing away with my watermarking. I don't like it at all. I feel like it is a distraction and really takes the focus away from the subject of the picture. But, yesterday as I was moping around feeling yucky, I decided to read some photography forums. What I found made me quickly decide to continue with watermarking.

Apparently, someone has been stealing other photographers' photographs and using them in her online portfolio. Watermarking did very little to slow her down but it will help these photographers when it comes to the lawsuit that I hope that they will slap her with.

Do I think that my portraits are so grand that someone would steal them? No, however, I would not want someone with zero knowledge and talent to grab my portraits and pass them off as his/her work. It's not at all fair to his/her potential clients. There are many, many, photographers that I admire. Many of them read this blog. I would never dream of stealing from them because each and every one of them would do anything at all to help me aquire the same skills. They would have done the very same for her if she had wanted to spend the time. The fact is that the art of photography is a gift. It takes lots of time and a whole lot of practice, practice, practice. I feel for the thief's clients.

Not only did he/she steal the portraits but these portraits were of children. Imagine how you, as a client, would feel seeing your child's portrait on some other photographer's website. This is why I will continue to watermark my work. It is to protect my clients.

I hope that this thief is ashamed of herself and I hope that my fellow photographers are able to find some justice in all of this.