Sometimes someone sends me a link to a photo they’ve posted on Flickr and say, “You can use this photo as Photo of the Day”. Well I would REALLY, REALLY like to but…I can’t. Flickr won’t let me. Many of the photos I choose for Photo of the Day are stored on Flickr’s servers. To be able to link them from their servers they either have to be marked Creative Commons (in one of their 3 different licenses) or you have to add me as a friend (I’m CMPNGUY on Flickr) and have it set to allow friends and family to download the image.
This is true too if you’re adding photos to the Yosemite Blog group pool or tagging them with YosemiteBlog.
Ok. Now I know some of you are freaking out and thinking, “What? Creative Commons?! Someone will steal my photo!”
As a photographer I know what it’s like to have your images stolen. I had it happen when I first started posting photos to the web 13 years ago. It happens and it sucks. I offer you this, if you put photos on the web some WILL get stolen. Count on it. Watermarks can be cloned out. Digital signatures erased. It’s inevitable.
Your best bet is to minimize your loss if it does used. Keep it 72dpi and save it as a JPG or PNG. Compression noise is a pain in the ass to get rid of. Trust me. I worked with people who think the logo on their website is print quality. Browsers show everything at 72dpi anyway. And for sure, never put ANYTHING online over 1000px wide. Doesn’t need to be bigger. It really doesn’t.
Ok, we cool? Good.
Oh by the way, for the one person thinking they’ll just put their watermark across the middle of their picture, don’t even bother to put your photo on line. You’re defeating the purpose of showing off your work. If you’re going to make it look so horrific that no one wants to steal it, no one will be able to enjoy the beauty of your shot with the huge watermark across the middle either. Just keep it low res, in a small width and a compressed format. You’ll be fine.
Comments
3 responses to “Using Flickr and Some Thoughts About Photos Online”
Maybe post the CC settings that will work for the blog.
I think this works best.
Attribution
Noncommercial
Share Alike
Which will keep some rights reserved for the photog.
Good idea, Michael. Those are the settings I use when I post on Flickr. Generally people that use CC licensed photos on their blog will cite the photographer and provide a link back to the page. Flickr is a Godsend to bloggers and they don’t want to screw up their good thing. It’s those who would rather take a someone’s photo, print it and sell the print alongside the road that are the problem.
Add you as a connection on Flickr. I have a few sets of Yosemite shots in case you want to look through them or use any. I will be going again in May and next January.