Just a random thought for the morning.
Watermarks used to be the way to go, to stop people from just taking your images and using them however they want. They’re also used to send sample images and then ask for payment.
With AI advancing, it’s very likely going to get easier for the layperson to click a button and have AI remove your watermark.
How do you plan to safeguard against this?
I never put watermark because it looks too ugly and ruin the picture.
But if I somehow really need to protect it and it has to be watermark, I’d put big translucent watermark that stretch through the whole image so the AI will not understand which part is watermark. But again, it ought to ruin the picture.
I am not changing my way of working due to AI. I know it can remove a watermark, but that is a lame excuse. Anyone with a minimum of editing experience can remove a watermark.
I do watermark my images for the visual identity, not so much for protection. For paid jobs like weddings and aniversaries, I deliver the photos without watermark, but I do use it when I post them in my social media and website.
The internet is an ocean of content and I’m just a small grain of sand in the middle of it. If by any chance, one of my images end up being used without my permission, I will take action depending on the context. For now, I am not worried, because my photography is not so fantastic to the point someone is interested in stealing it anyway…
As for the issue of watermarks for proofing, I provide images in my website for people to buy their prints, not the actual digital photos. If a wedding guest wants a digital photo, they can simply ask the bride and groom for it, since they get all the digital photos. I charge for the prints, not the digital photos, so again, I’m not worried about AI on this regard.
I have a related question: How common is it for images to get swiped? I am a hobbyist and generally feel like if someone stole an image I took, I could just take another one another day. If an image is really meaningful to me, I don’t usually post it online.
Post less online.