Protecting your work on social media

At some point in your life, you will become victim to someone stealing your work. This first happened to me many years ago in the early days of the web. A magazine used an image of mine without my permission. At the time I couldn't do much about. Yes, I could have taken them to court for compensation but I knew they were a small publisher and the whole process could have cost me up-front and I may not have got much compensation if I had won the case.

These days, it seems that theft of copyright material is endemic. So, what can you do to protect your work? Well, one of the most common problems is when you post your work on social media (Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook etc).  The method most folks recommend is to watermark your work. However, this isn't easy to do when using apps, for example, on your smartphone. Let's be honest, many photographers use their smartphones to take pictures, if only for the reason that it's the camera we carry around the most. If uploading via your computer then it's easier, but still something of a nuisance adding watermarks before you upload.

Somewhat easier is to reduce the size and quality of any images you upload to the web. After all, in most cases, they don't to be full resolution and maximum quality if being viewed on the web. There are plenty of applications for doing batch resizing of your images. You can also do it in most photo editors.

In my experience, I find resizing my images to 1280 pixels in the longest dimension and at 80% quality is sufficient. The image still looks great in a web browser but it's not the highest quality for printing. Yes, folk will still steal it on occasions, but it won't be appearing in a glossy book or advertising campaign. If you choose the option to retain the EXIF information embedded in the file, it will help if you do end up taking legal action against the thief. Yes, they can strip it out but most thieves don't even bother and I am not sure if most of them even know what EXIF means!

If you an artist who draws (rather than being a photographer) there are steps you can take when posting your material online. Redbubble (a photographic community) have a very good article here. I am a member of Redbubble and its a great community for artists of all kinds. You can view my portfolio here.

Macphun are offering 50% off Luminar, their excellent photo editor for the Mac! Hurry, as the offer closes on 19th February.

You can get the offer by clicking on this link: Hot Deal!

Note: You can get some awesome bonuses too, so be quick, before the offer expires.

I use the software myself and am very impressed. Even though I have Adobe CC, I hardly ever use Photoshop or Lightroom these days, that's how good it is!

Panoramic shots used to require expensive and specialist equipment. These days, most digital cameras come with a built-in panoramic mode. This image, taken in Arezzo, Tuscany, was taken on my Samsung NX11. The camera was quite a good little camera, light and compact to carry around but still capable of taking a decent image. The panoramic mode was ok for holiday snaps, so to speak, but due to the relatively low-res, I wouldn't use in a professional setting.

More recent cameras on the market offer better resolution, even in their panoramic mode. The Samsung NX11 had the following specification:

1. Resolution: 14.6 MP (CMOS APS-C sensor)
2. LCD screen: 3 inches (614k dots)
3. Shutter speeds: 30 sec to 1/4000 sec
4. ISO: 100 - 3200
5. Viewfinder: VGA (640 x 480) 921k dots equivalent.
6. Continuous shooting: 3fps
7. Weight: 353g
8. Width: 123mm
9. Height: 87mm
10. Depth: 39.8mm

I enjoyed it, especially for travel photography, due its size and weight. It was easy on the hand and even with a couple of lenses, it was portable.

More recently, I have been using my Sony A6000 with a couple of kit lenses. Better resolution and faster auto-focus, but just as light really. However, after a couple of years of using it, I am ready for a change. here is my short-list:

1. Fujifilm X-T2
2. Panasonic GH5
3. Nikon 500
4. Olympus' OM-D E-M1 Mark II

I have only had the chance to try out the Fuji, so once the GH5 is available, I will give that a try. The Nikon and Olympus are bit out of my budget but I would like to try them out and compare them before finally making my mind up. Cheaper options include the Pentak (Ricoh) KP and Fuji X-T20. I will be reading the reviews and seeing how they compare.