The funny places your photos show up on the Web

So my wife was surfing the web and found my mobila shot at this blog. Not even sure if the moderators can leave up the link due the four letter word used.

http://fuckyeahstingrays.tumblr.com

So my wife was surfing the web and found my mobila shot at this blog. Not even sure if the moderators can leave up the link due the four letter word used.

 

http://fuckyeahstingrays.tumblr.com

At least the owner says he doesn't own the pics.

Nice shot by the way

Bill

At least the owner says he doesn't own the pics.

Errr.....in which case why are they using them on their blog?

Errr.....because they were posted without copyright notices on the web? Because some people (there's all kinds out there) choose exposure over the protection of their rights? Because some people actually don't mind their images being purloined?

Who knows.....

Tim

Well I don't think having © is protection, clearly one of the photos has that, I believe mine did also. Many of us just start in this as a hobby and it never occurs to us to copyright our photos. But is it really protection from this kind of thing? I would have no idea how to "go after" someone like this. I have no intention of suing this person but has anyone tried it? What were the results?

I am probably like many who come to Wetpixel; people who are really just enthusiastic amateurs who after awhile start putting the watermark on because "everyone else does". Again like many I have thought "were am I going with this hobby?" especially when I am looking to plunk down money for new gear I can't live without, lol. I really don't have an answer. Sure it would be great to sell some photos but again I really don't even know where to start. Honestly is it even worth the time and effort? For what? So I can claim I am a paid photographer? I sat in on a lecture by a "published" photographer and writer it was so general, so vague it was next to useless.

There are times when I feel Pros say "PROTECT THE KINGDOM" but when you ask how they go black. I understand not wanting to invite more competition but IMHO there is some hypocrisy there. Funny how there are pinned subjects on all sorts of things but not on how to sell your photos or get published, hmmmmm.

My gut tells me with so many people taking cameras down that it must be very hard to "sell" photos. Clearly someone who does this as a hobby, does not really need the money would love to see their shots in a brochure, website, whatever. To share what they see with others is a big part of why they got into the hobby.

Done rambling….

There is an interesting thread on this under "general"

Basically my take is that an amature should not give away his prints because other people make a living selling their prints.

i have heard zero satisfactory answers on how to go pro because I think that their isn't any. Many pros have helped me take better pictures gratis so I honor their livelyhood.

My gut tells me with so many people taking cameras down that it must be very hard to "sell" photos. Clearly someone who does this as a hobby, does not really need the money would love to see their shots in a brochure, website, whatever. To share what they see with others is a big part of why they got into the hobby.

Im so with you on this, as a hobbyist and amateur im super happy to have a picture of mine posted on the Uk version of the nauticam website http://uwvisions.com/gallery.php?id=92&s=2 alongside some big gun names. I was amazed that Alex asked my picture to be on there and hope i can get some more posted in the future.

But now i must start thinking of exposure and copyright issues. Ive just been looking into this more as i noticed on 'My Controls' panel that my pictures that i added for ID purposes have been downloaded 15 or so times each and was wondering who has taken them and what they would use them for.

The more i shoot, the better shots i will get (i hope) and the more chance i have of having shots used or taken from me without my consent.

Get This: i went to an event here in the philippines early this year and a random hawker tried to sell me a tshirt of pics of the underwater world... when i looked closer i realised that all the shots were my own!!! I had, about 3 years earlier, being a early novice with a P&S, given a CD of my favourites to the officer of tourism for the area. Not thinking i would see much of them, a year later i was happy to see my pygmy seahorse on a poster promoting the towns diving, then later a whale shark shot turns up on a 5ft poster at the local port, but a random hawker trying to sell me back my photos.... hilarious!!!

Now im a bit more careful who i give my images too!

Olly

Get This: i went to an event here in the philippines early this year and a random hawker tried to sell me a tshirt of pics of the underwater world... when i looked closer i realised that all the shots were my own!!! I had, about 3 years earlier, being a early novice with a P&S, given a CD of my favourites to the officer of tourism for the area. Not thinking i would see much of them, a year later i was happy to see my pygmy seahorse on a poster promoting the towns diving, then later a whale shark shot turns up on a 5ft poster at the local port, but a random hawker trying to sell me back my photos.... hilarious!!!

Wow, that's a pretty incredible story! At least you're in good spirits about it, and the photos weren't used for anything bad.

Did you tell the hawker those were your pics? I'm curious what his response would be.

-Gina

Always watermark all pics and videos is the lesson learned.

Steve

Get This: i went to an event here in the philippines early this year and a random hawker tried to sell me a tshirt of pics of the underwater world... when i looked closer i realised that all the shots were my own!!! I had, about 3 years earlier, being a early novice with a P&S, given a CD of my favourites to the officer of tourism for the area. Not thinking i would see much of them, a year later i was happy to see my pygmy seahorse on a poster promoting the towns diving, then later a whale shark shot turns up on a 5ft poster at the local port, but a random hawker trying to sell me back my photos.... hilarious!!!

One day I might like to quote you on this Greedo - do you happen to have copies of the images? Even better, a photo of your photo on the tee-shirt?

Image reproduction rights have a value. Most don't seem to realise just "how much", having forgotten the cost of the camera gear & vacation, let alone the time spend creating...... I must add (and the previous sentence must not be taken out of context...) that I'm not criticising anyone here - just pondering "why?"

My take is simple; any photographer should not give away images (caveats do apply). Why? Because whoever wants to use the image attaches some value or enjoys benefit from our creative endeavours, and making it free devalues everyone's work.

NWDiver - Maybe its the wording and my reading, but I feel compelled to offer a possible correction. In your last post the statement "Many of us just start in this as a hobby and it never occurs to us to copyright our photos" jumped out - copyright protection exists from the moment you press the shutter. There is no legal requirement to copyright your work, but as a matter of course it is good practice to slap a big © symbol through the middle. It spoils the image somewhat, and for this reason makes the thieves look elsewhere. Putting your name in the metadata and in the image itself also helps people find out who owns the image, thus avoiding an orphan work.

As for threads on "how to sell" or "how to get published" - well I dunno....... Many will be forthcoming on a one-to-one perhaps rather than open forum. I'm guessing so as I tend to be more candid with the spoken word, and when the pixels are arranged saying the same thing for the planet to see......there are no secrets really but just a lot of hard work and the technique differs from person to person. What works for one, won't work for another. I rarely (almost never) dive with other photographers but Alex M does regularly. I don't go to the Red Sea but others go on an annual basis. I guess its all about experimenting and finding a niche. Black art? Not really, but having good business sense (invoicing, accounts, managing image rights, paying tax, insurance - all the boring things) as well as a flair for selling will help.

Greedo5678 - maybe you can find out where your images have gone. Try using Tin Eye to see if they turn up anywhere unexpected. Here's a link to Tin Eye

TomR1 - re going pro. There is no hard and fast answer (see above). For everyone making their living chances are there will be a different story & approach. Granted there will be common threads running though them, but how everyone arrives at the same point is via a different path. No easy answer I'm afraid.

Try using Tin Eye to see if they turn up anywhere unexpected. Here's a link to Tin Eye

Wow, Tin Eye is amazing. I have it bookmarked now. Thanks for mentioning it.

-Gina

Wow, Tin Eye is amazing. I have it bookmarked now. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

-Gina

Tin Eye has been around a long time. There is an alternative - Picscout - that have a few image searching/identification products, one of which that can track images based on (among other things) content. The intention is to track down where images have been used. The rights owner gets a report and can then check and see if the publisher has a license..........This site is geared around the pro/stock market and the FAQs indicate that a minimum of 30,000 images are needed to see. It is not free and I have no idea how much it would cost, but who knows? Maybe one day it will be worth thinking about.

The upside to both Tin Eye and Picscout is you can search for an image by its contents. The downside I suspect is that images are copied/uploaded faster than an index/db can find and register them. Now if everyone could just stop posting images for a while........

As I write this, something has just occurred to me; Wetpixel members must have a lot of images......and there must be plenty of infringements out there.......group membership perhaps?