Photography Scribblings

I recently discovered that some of the photos I took have been used to make Live Journal icons — without my knowledge or permission. It’s inevitable given the nature of the web. I’m not angry or pissed off…but I am ambivalent.

I thought about this prior to posting pictures I took but chose to do so anyway. It would be disingenuous of me to get all huffy about it. This isn’t the first time this has happened and it won’t be the last. I imagine if I hung around Rachel Luttrell sites, I’d find a lot of that going on since her pics generate an astounding number of hits.

A large part of me is honored - I’m a newbie at photography and someone liked a photo I took well enough to spend time making a piece of art out of it. In fact, several someones liked the photos well enough to do that. I like that much better than finding them posted for sale at Snapfish, which did annoy me greatly.

A part of me, though, is frustrated. I’ve tried to protect the images without emblazoning my site logo across the entirety of the pic or making draconian threats or otherwise being an ass. Many people approached me…wanting copies for themselves…wanting to make a t-shirt for themselves…putting a few on their sites…and on and on. I’ve always agreed and I’ve met a lot of very nice people that way.

One of the reasons I had such a variety of photos for the 2004 New Jersey con was because lots of friends shared their pictures and agreed to my posting them. I don’t want their generosity to be punished — or for them to decide not to participate any more.