# :) I need help



## amandalsmith (Aug 21, 2012)

Hello  
I am looking to start my own photo bizz and HAVE NO IDEA how to get my name on the pics


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## sm4him (Aug 21, 2012)

Oh my.
Think I'll go ahead and get it out now:


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## MLeeK (Aug 21, 2012)

You have a lot more than just getting your name on your photos to think about, but hey! If that's your concern it's pretty easy
In photoshop it's a layer of text over your image and reduced opacity. Viola!


I apologize. I probably should elaborate on my skepticism here...
Most  people have more than a passing clue how to use photoshop long before  they start a "bizz." Which leads me (many of us) to ask where your skill  set is? Just the wording alone sets off some big alarm bells for us. 
Generally, we don't want our names on the images on our website anyway. It's a big detraction from the image as it's viewed.
We will gladly give you some information on photography as a business and based on this question I think you probably need a ton of it. It sounds like you need information on photography, processing and editing even more than you need business help-yet.


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## pixmedic (Aug 21, 2012)

yea..im out too. 
youtube or google watermarks:how to 
should be plenty examples


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## sandraadamson (Aug 21, 2012)

Google "how to create a watermark in Photoshop" I'm  assuming u have Photoshop. And I concur with the above this really is the least of your worries if u want to start a photography business.

www.sandraadamson.com www.sandraadamson.blogspot.com


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## Derrel (Aug 21, 2012)

Buy a low-cost copy of Lightroom 3.6. It has a really easy-to-use watermarking process on the EXPORT menu page dialogue! Easy-peasey!


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## amandalsmith (Aug 21, 2012)

WOW really???? I was asking a simple question about how to copy right your photos . I didnt need your Sarcasm I thought this was a NICE place to get help on questions but i guess i was wrong and btw i did google all the stuff i could and nothing seemed to help I have been taking photos for about 15 years


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## amandalsmith (Aug 21, 2012)

Thank u darrel


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## SCraig (Aug 21, 2012)

amandalsmith said:


> WOW really???? I was asking a simple question about how to copy right your photos . I didnt need your Sarcasm I thought this was a NICE place to get help on questions but i guess i was wrong and btw i did google all the stuff i could and nothing seemed to help I have been taking photos for about 15 years


Actually you asked how to watermark photos, not copyright them.


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## Overread (Aug 21, 2012)

*thread moved to general shop talk*


As just said, watermarks on your photos are not the same as copyrighting your photos. Copyright law is something you will want to check up on. At its most basic you have copyright from the moment you take a photo, you take it its yours unless you sign any contract with a client to transfer copyright rights. From there in the USA you've also got to register your photos with the copyright office in order to gain access to a higher level of potential protection (it generally affects how much you can potentially sue for if you find and challenge a copyright infringement).

Watermarks don't "give" you copyright, but they are a decent first step to announcing your copyright status to others. How big a watermark you use and how much and what kind of protection they give you will vary and there are a few schools of thought on this.


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## rob0225 (Aug 21, 2012)

I gotta agree with the majority here.  If you've been taking photos for 15 years and still don't know how to add a watermark, there are bigger concerns.


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## amandalsmith (Aug 21, 2012)

Thank u overread  I will look more into the water mark


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## amandalsmith (Aug 21, 2012)

I have never felt the need to label my photos until now i just want credit on them mainly so people cant steal them off facebook and stuff


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## MLeeK (Aug 21, 2012)

You should be sizing to upload to facebook so that they aren't able to be printed to anything decent in size and that will help. If you are posting them on facebook they are going to get used on people's profiles and to share. If you don't want that happening-you know what I am about to say here... don't post on facebook. 
Facebook can be a great tool to a photographer and it can also be a nightmare.

If you have been at this for 15 years I'd expect you to know that a watermark is not a copyright. You own your copyright from the moment you click, however if you want that to be legally enforceable you should be registering it with the US Copyright office every 90 days for every image you have taken.


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## amandalsmith (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanx  I know uploading them to facebook is risky im just trying to follow my dream im not claiming to be  brillant or the best  just trying over here  I myself dont like to edit or photoshop my photos  but i do feel the need to claim them


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## SCraig (Aug 21, 2012)

amandalsmith said:


> I have never felt the need to label my photos until now i just want credit on them mainly so people cant steal them off facebook and stuff


A watermark is not going to stop anyone from stealing anything.  All, and I mean ALL, a watermark does is allow people to know who took the photograph.  Most watermarks, except perhaps those that are so disgustingly humongous that nobody would steal the photograph to start with, can be cloned out in a few seconds.  A copyright notice in EXIF data can be stripped out even quicker.  If you are relying on a watermark to prevent someone from stealing your photographs it is not going to work.  The only way to prevent someone from stealing is to never post them on the internet.


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## KmH (Aug 21, 2012)

Claiming/watermarking your photos won't keep anyone from stealing them from anywhere on the Internet, particularly from Facebook.
Every photo you or any photographer have ever taken, or will ever take, is edited. If you use a digital camera and shoot JPEG, the photos are edited a lot based on software programming some camera engineering committee decided needed to be done.
Many working photographers elect to shoot Raw files and do the editing themselves so they have more artistic control over their work product.

As far as starting and maintaining your own photography business, the key is having business skills like marketing, accounting, public relations, salesmanship, much more so than having photography skills.

But, here are some resources for free help starting a business - Starting & Managing a Business | SBA.gov

Free Small Business Advice | How-to Resources | Tools | Templates | SCORE


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## DiskoJoe (Aug 21, 2012)

Someone stop this spam


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## MLeeK (Aug 21, 2012)

amandalsmith said:


> Thanx  I know uploading them to facebook is risky im just trying to follow my dream im not claiming to be  brillant or the best  just trying over here  I myself dont like to edit or photoshop my photos  but i do feel the need to claim them


Forgive me if this sounds rude, it's truly not meant to. That is a very niave statement. When you are shooting in jpeg mode you are letting the camera do it's own photoshop work. Really and truly. A jpeg image is a flattened, sharpened and edited version of the data that hits your sensor. THe camera is editing according to the program that is in every camera out there. Anyone can create that same image. 
Creating a unique image requires shooting in a negative format just like the film days. I do little to no photoshop work. I am too lazy to do that kind of work. It is much easier to get it right when you shoot it. However, I do have to develop my images and that is what the difference is between taking a picture and letting the camera do the editing the same as every other person who owns a camera can do and creating a photograph. 
We work in a digital negative just like in the days of film and it has to be PROCESSED to even be viewed. WE choose how the image looks, not the computer program in the camera. That does not mean we ever open an image and EDIT it in photoshop at all. I do that only when I have to fix a zit or something. Otherwise it would kill my profitability in time editing.


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## tirediron (Aug 22, 2012)

amandalsmith said:


> ... I myself dont like to edit or photoshop my photos ....


Don't like to, or don't know how to?  There's a BIG difference; as MLeek points out, while the medium has changed, and you no longer come out smelline like vinegar, the process hasn't.  Every image still needs at least some very minor tweek to make it as good as it can be (or apply a watermar).  Without this ability, you're behind the eight-ball from the start.


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## orljustin (Aug 22, 2012)

amandalsmith said:


> Thanx  I know uploading them to facebook is risky im just trying to follow my dream im not claiming to be  brillant



Good thing.


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 22, 2012)

I like these posts, makes me realize that there are still people out there buying board games,  this person is looking for "Clue"


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## sm4him (Aug 22, 2012)

imagemaker46 said:


> I like these posts, makes me realize that there are still people out there buying board games,  this person is looking for "Clue"



 And seems to have found "Trouble" instead.


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 22, 2012)

Why  these people post looking for help is always a "Boggle"


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## MLeeK (Aug 22, 2012)

The whole thing is just a bunch of "Balderdash."


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## sm4him (Aug 22, 2012)

Well, I guess they're willing to take a "Risk."


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 22, 2012)

I thought I was the "Mastermind" and had the "Monopoly" on witty come backs, so I took a"Risk" and say "Sorry" to the op if I sank his "Battleship"


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 22, 2012)

I got to get a "Life"


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## MLeeK (Aug 22, 2012)

Sure, why not? Photography as an art is just a "trivial pursuit" anyway!


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## sm4him (Aug 22, 2012)

imagemaker46 said:


> I thought I was the "Mastermind" and had the "Monopoly" on witty come backs, so I took a"Risk" and say "Sorry" to the op if I sank his "Battleship"



Wow, that's really using the old "Cranium." You win, "Hands Down."


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## imagemaker46 (Aug 22, 2012)

This place is just a of "Barrel of Monkeys"


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## MLeeK (Aug 22, 2012)

Sadly, yes, but if you have some "chutes and ladders" you can get out of the barrel.


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## sm4him (Aug 22, 2012)

That's a "Fact. Or, Crap."

<that was weak  >


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## Tuffythepug (Aug 22, 2012)

It appears as though the "domino" effect is at work here.


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## MLeeK (Aug 22, 2012)

You are very right, Tuffy. And on that note I think this "old maid" is better off going to bed before you guys totally destroy my "concentration."


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## sm4him (Aug 22, 2012)

I agree; I've really had to "Scrabble" for the last couple of posts--besides, this is becoming an "Obsession." Think I'll go eat a piece of "Chess" pie before bed.


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## mishele (Aug 22, 2012)

You people need to get out more!! lol


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## Bitter Jeweler (Aug 22, 2012)

This thread is absolute "Perfection"!


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## Montanamyst (Aug 22, 2012)

Maybe the OP was just trying to "Break the Ice".


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## Bitter Jeweler (Aug 22, 2012)

I think her plan went "Kerplunk."


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## Tee (Aug 22, 2012)

We derailed the thread. "Sorry".


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## charlie76 (Aug 22, 2012)




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## KmH (Aug 23, 2012)

Tee said:


> We derailed the thread. "Sorry".


The thread was never on the tracks.


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