facebookpixelcode

I’ve never been a fan of watermarks on my photos. I did, at one point, suffer from UWS (Ugly Watermark Syndrome), but I’ve overcome it 😉 I’ve always felt that a watermark really interfered with the “look”, feeling, and overall presentation of the photo. And while I’m not happy if some one takes and uses my photo without permission, I’ve always been on the mindset that:

1) Honest, well-meaning (and paying) people will not steal your photos and use them without permission.
2) No matter what you do, some one who wants to steal your photo will (that is unless you watermark it so obtrusively that nobody would want to steal your photo).

All of that said, I ran across a Google+ post of Tamara Lackey’s the other day and it reminded me that I’ve always been a fan of what she does with her photos. See, lots of people view certain styles of watermarks as not only protecting their photos, but branding them as well. And I can totally see that. But again, I think a lot of the watermarks (or “branding” marks) interfere with the photo too much. That’s why I like what Tamara does a lot. She puts a small colorful bar along side of her photos with her studio name.

tamara1

She also changes the color of the bar depending on the colors in the photo, so it fits in really well. So should some one “grab” this photo from a website or a well-meaning person happen to come across her work outside of her website, they’d see this and know who’s work it was and that they’d be a quick Google search away. Btw… here’s a link to Tamara’s blog. Definitely worth visiting.

Anyway, just a thought for anyone who’s considered watermarking their photos. I visit 500px, Google+, Flickr and many other photo sites during the day and I always feel that it’s a shame to see how so many great photos get ruined by ugly watermarks. So I ask you… no, I beg you… rise up against the ugly watermark… deny the ugly watermark…. and do something better for your photos and your country 😉 I’m not sure what any of that means, but it seemed like a good way to end the blog post. Have a good one! 🙂

0

Your Cart