Photo Credit

[wrxinsc]

I'm an amateur photographer that's just getting back into the art again and I have a question. Granted, I'm not a pro, but I'm still pretty proud of the shots that I think are "good." I shot a rally race last year and posted my pics on the rally website and saw that some of my shots were used by teams that competed and they gave photo credit to me. Eventually, one of my shots made it's way to a very popular Volkswagen website and I saw that they had put their name on the photo.
Long story short, as an amateur, should I put my name on my pics that I post on the web or not? I'm not getting money for my shots, yet I'm still proud of the ones I like. Advice?

[bullitt_60]

Why not? I don't think it would hurt anything. As an amatuer, if I actually took something good enough for a website to use it, I would want my name on it. Not for money or recognition but to prove to people I actually took it.

[wrxinsc]

Thanks for the input.

Bill

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by wrxinsc

I'm an amateur photographer that's just getting back into the art again and I have a question. Granted, I'm not a pro, but I'm still pretty proud of the shots that I think are "good." I shot a rally race last year and posted my pics on the rally website and saw that some of my shots were used by teams that competed and they gave photo credit to me. Eventually, one of my shots made it's way to a very popular Volkswagen website and I saw that they had put their name on the photo.
Long story short, as an amateur, should I put my name on my pics that I post on the web or not? I'm not getting money for my shots, yet I'm still proud of the ones I like. Advice?

First, yes... you should always put your name on your work. Amateur or not... it's your work.

That said, you should always preserve the value of all work. Consider this... you let them use the image for free. That means, publications like that will continue to look for free stuff... hence taking food off the tables of those that do this for a living. Is that really what you want to do? I'm not singling you out... but this is a problem that people don't really stop to think of.

Now, I know it's really easy for people to read my post and say..."sheesh... what a whiner. That's not the case at all. For many (and many on this site) this is how we make out living. In order to do that, we need advertisers buying images, teams, drivers, manufactures ... and even editorial outlets. Often, it's not just the fees we collect, it is also the exposure. I'm somewhat liberal with web use (for proper credit) since I maintain pretty large online galleries. To me... once they're online, the toothpaste is basically out of the tube. BUT... that does not mean I roll over and play dead. I still want to preserve my relationships with sites I do have working agreements with.

So, all I'm saying, if you're happy as an amateur, be considerate of those of us that are trying to make a living. We don't have the luxury of giving our work away... we need to be paid.

Hope you can see our side of it.

Here's another "artist's" take on it:

[RusH]

Is pitpass technology hard to implement?
Try to right-click on any photo pitpass - the latest, hottest F1 & A1GP news

[Hallen]

I look at it this way. Given an infinite number of monkeys typing on an infinite number of typewriters, one will eventually recreate the entire works of Shakespeare.
With an infinite number of snapshots out there, one is bound to be good enough to use in my magazine. Why should I pay for it?
Well, the answer is obvious. Professionals will give you good work all the time. Why should I have to go hunt for the right shot, let the professional bring me his best shots. Done.

This is a good question though. I don't have a copyright on any of my snapshots that I have on my blog or my flickr site, but none are good enough for anybody to want to use. If I did take some nice shots, I would want my name on them and a copyright. That way, whoever wanted to use them would at least need to ask first (to be legal). Another good way to protect you work is to only post lower res pictures. Sure, some internet sites will use low res stuff too, but no print magazine will.

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by RusH

Is pitpass technology hard to implement?
Try to right-click on any photo pitpass - the latest, hottest F1 & A1GP news

I clicked on them all... not sure what you're asking... or, for that matter, getting at.

JT

[bullitt_60]

John,

I read your post and watched the vid. I hear your point clearly and agree with it. Why then do you and others provide so much assistance to amatuer photographers on photography forums?

As was stated in a post above (more or less), sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut. Every once in a while I will take a shot I can't believe I took. I go home and post it to a few forums and say ,"look what I did!". Lets say someone with a website finds it and takes the photo for their use. What would you want me to do? Honestly, I'm a pretty busy guy (believe it or not) and more than likely wouldn't fight it.

[RusH]

What is your method of getting the image tag info? I`ve been right clicking on photos to get the properties to post on forums, or to save them for years. That site gives me a popup telling me "sorry folks. it`s copyrighted".
Do tell.

[RusH]

Ok, nevermind...your forum is pretty advanced...I dragged and dropped the picture.

That was not possible in many forums.