Sharing your photographs online…

I’m cautious by nature.  It’s hard not to be with so many sleazy people out there in the world (sales people to start)…  But when I first purchased a camera, oh so many years ago, it occurred to me then as it occurs to so many…  I could make some money on the side doing photography.  I’m not a photojournalist, architectural photographer or even someone very skilled at portraiture, but I definitely know how to operate a camera… and I can learn what makes a great photograph, and given time and experience, I could turn out some nice photos that would generate an income.

Now, I don’t have the drive to make a living off of photography…  but if I make a few bucks off of photography, then I can write off the cost of the equipment on my taxes…  so there is the pragmatic portion of my brain figuring out how to turn a hobby I enjoy in to something that will also benefit me in other ways.

But despite my interest in doing things like that, I get nervous about sharing anything online…  why?  Because of stories like this.  I recently signed up for a flickr account because Yahoo bought flickr and I have a yahoo account, so why not?  Well even though I’ve put some photographs up, I’ve gone through the pains of downsizing all of my photos before uploading them.  Sure they’re fine for the web, but they aren’t going to be useful for much print work beyond wallet-sized photos.  And it’s because of that story that I’m nervous about sharing any quality work online.

Useful advise from the discussion threads on that story are:

• Post low res 72 dpi at 600 x 800 pixels or smaller and tag your stuff with your copyright notice. Tag every photo you post no matter how small or trivial. If you make a web site and have untagged photos have a copyright page that states it is yours or others intellectual property. 

  — I don’t add the copyright tag to the photo, but I’ve been considering it.

• If you post to a public site your ideas will be copied as ideas can not be copyrighted.

  — I don’t post ideas or code online that I am afraid will be stolen.

• Accept that your low res images will be stolen. If you discover the theft bring it, politely, the attention of the user. In most cases they are unaware of the law and will pay for or remove the image. If not contact their ISP, most ISP’s have no tolerance for copyright violations per their TOS. If your copyright tag has been removed you will have a very strong case. That can be made stronger if you registered your copyright. 

  — Haven’t yet run in to it where I care.

• Indicate that high res versions (or prints) of your images are for sale. Make them available from another site like photoshelter. Sites using the photoshelter model cater to keeping your stuff safe and have reputations for honest treatment of their clients. 

  — I’m thinking about joining istockphoto.com and posting my “for sale” work there.