To watermark or not watermark? That is today’s question…

Boy, have I taken a lot of photographs of my soaps over the years. I mean, hundreds and hundreds. Many don't get to see the light of day, as I consider myself to be a bit of a perfectionist, (read 'clumsy perfectionist' as my many typos can attest). Sometimes, I get it right and all elements align; composition, lighting, product execution, no extraneous matter cluttering things up, no dreadful shadows or bleaching. So I do a little happy dance and fling my images out into the webesphere. "Hooraaay!" I exclaim, content that I have executed a job well done.

Then, in soapy forums & Facebook groups I hear tales of stolen images, people brazenly stealing others hard work and palming them off as their own. I'm fortunate that this hasn't happened to me, (as far as I know), but the heart sinks at the prospect.

Back in the forums, much blether and justifiable vitriol later, the consensus is you must stamp your authorship on your images, by means of overlaying a discreet logo or water mark over your images.

Taking the latter, this poses problems of its own, not least of which, a dirty great watermark detracts from the picture, even though faint, they can be obtrusive, spoiling your perfect picture, like some authoritarian right to pass stamp. So what to do? Stick with it, because, well people can still discern your work, or go for the discreet logo? Well, I've done both, (not at the same time, crikey), and I think, I favour the logo. Which is a pity, because I've only just realised this after tweaking and posting quite a few pictures out there sporting full flavour watermarks, (sigh).

The logo has one main issue of its own, that it can be cropped out. Usually, logos aren't dolloped on top of the main focus of the picture, usually occupying space around the edges, so as to not obscure, obviously. This stamp of authority / authorship may be enough to deter most image thieves, as to be frank, there are tons of other 'naked' images out there which could be nicked. An image with a watermark or logo is going to require extra work to eradicate it, so chances are thieves will pass, unless you're the Diane Arbus or other equivalent of product photography, (or the Auntie Clara of the soapy world), you're probably going to be just fine, (she types nervously).

I don't know if I've got it right. Is my logo too small? Too large? Is it in the right place? Am I being too critical? Does it really matter? Well, I think, it doesn't look terrible, so that's good. Will it be enough to protect my image? Probably. Maybe. I don't really know. At least I have made the effort and if nothing else, when people see my images of my products, there'll be no doubt who made them and that I am proud to add my business name to them.