Sharing Photos

[jodyko]

Hello all,

 

  I recently visited the local botanical gardens and of course took many photos. Some of these are already for sale on Alamy and many are yet to be processed. The staff there were very friendly and helpful and expressed an interest in using some of my images to promote the facility on social media. I'd like to oblige and know there are certain risks regarding unauthorized use by third parties. Would downsizing, watermarking, or using some other method discourage such uses? Are there any other potential risks that come to mind? I hate to limit availability to only those images that I wouldn't submit to QC which was my original intention. I've read some of the recent threads in and around this subject but look forward to any additional opinions. Thanks in Advance!

[John Richmond]

Although there is a risk of image theft I can't think of a better way to build a good relationship with a potentially valuable source of stock worthy images.  I volunteer at a well known UK garden and make my images available to them and I haven't had a problem so far.  Like your botanic garden the major requirement is for smaller, lower res images for social media and website promotion though I do provide some high res images for printed advertising, calenders and postcards.   I store the low res, small images on a Google drive so they can access them without having to go through me every time they want to run a Facebook or other promotion.  No watermark but they do credit me.

 

What it provides for me is unrestricted access with the opportunity to get out of hours shots, behind the scenes shots, garden working etc etc.  All benefits that outweigh any theft risk.  Perhaps you could negotiate something similar. 

[dlmphotog]

I would go with your gut feeling and donate the images to a worthy cause.

 

Don't worry to much image theft, its going to happen. I register my images with the US copyright office and think of documented commercial image theft as an income opportunity 😀

 

I would draw up a simple image usage rights, terms and conditions paperwork spelling out what the donated images can be used for (advertising, editorial...) for how long,  you retain the copyright to the images and that the images can NOT be sold or licensed to anyone.

 

Hope this helps,

 

 

[jodyko]

  Such well thought and excellent advice both John and dlmphotog! This approximates my thinking and I'll be providing them with what I hope are some nice photos. Many Thanks!