A concern about the gallery

[kkraczek]

Hi PJ,

I am not sure if I should be concerned or not, but one of my photos has had so many views that it actually makes me nervous! My "Hawaiian Rainbow" photo gets about 25 views per day, every day... it's over 350 now. Is it possible that someone is using it on another site and has linked to my photo, or am I just nuts? Thanks!

[Peter_AUS]

No, it is possible that someone has linked to it. Maybe PJ can trace who has looked at the image and give you some feedback on that.

[Lara]

Anyone can link to most any photo on the internet. John may have a better solution, but may I suggest you delete the photo and upload it again if you want? That will give it a different url, and whoever is using it on their site will get a red X instead of your photo. You will lose the comment that are already posted. But if it is upsetting to you, and I wouldn't blame you in the least, it's somewhat of a solution.

[kkraczek]

Thanks guys, I think I will wait to see if PJ can get any info from it before I delete it... but ultimately that's probably what I'll do. Thanks again!

[Lara]

Yes, do wait for PJ to respond to you. I feel badly when people do things like this. I'm sorry Kristen

[kkraczek]

Thanks Lara If that turns out to be the case, I noticed a couple of other's photos that have a high number of views on them as well. (Gahspidy has one with over 600!) We'll see... have a great weekend, by the way!

[Liz]

My friends - the parents of my godchild (first communion post) have a problem with their children's photos being on the internet. They know I posted it here because I told them how people helped me clone out the car buttons in the photo. However, is there a chance someone could copy and use this photo for something? I never dreamed of anything like this. I know, I'm really naive.

Liz

[Lara]

I really don't want to frighten you Liz, but yes, the photo can be copied. If you want more information on how it can be copied, please either email me or pm. A lot of people know how, but I'm not going to contribute to the people who want to steal a photo but don't know how.

[Photo-John]

Sorry I didn't get in here sooner. I have to remember to check this forum more often.

First of all, 25 views a day for a good photo isn't very many. Take it as a compliment. In the few weeks that it's been up, the new gallery has had over 30,000 views. Right now it's getting 2000-3000 view per day. It is possible that someone has linked to your photo, although I can't check at that kind of micro level. If someone did, what's the problem? Isn't that a good thing for you? A view is a view of the whlole gallery page, not just your photo. And the photo has your name on it, too. So you're getting credit, even if someone is just linking to the image.

This gets back to the old concern about images being stolen on the Internet. My opinion is that if you're afraid of your images being "borrowed", you'd best not post them at all. I just assume that everything I post on the Internet will be pinched. That's why I put either a Photo-John or a PhotographyREVIEW.com logo on them. That way, when someone borrows one of my photos, I get free advertising! And they're too small for anyone to print with any quality, so no one can really make any money from stealing my images on the Internet. At this point, I sort of hope people are going to pinch them and distribute them for me.

I can make it so that people can't save photos from the gallery. But I'd rather not do that. If everyone wants me to block saving photos from the gallery, I'll do it. But I like to think that people can use my photos for wallpaper or other personal uses. I think the positives outweight the negatives (good one, John!). The resolution is too low for any commercial use, and my logo is on them, anyway.

Hopefully that answers everyone's questions. Maybe I'm missing something, though. Let me know. It's your gallery and your site and for the most part, I'll do what the community wants.

[kkraczek]

A view is a view of the whlole gallery page, not just your photo.

Thanks, I guess that does make more sense to me. I realized later that I might have over-reacted a little ;) but at the time my name wasn't on it, either. So I did do that. I am actually flattered... maybe I was just a bit surpised is all! I'll just make sure and sign my photos from now on. Thanks for the help!

[Photo-John]

Yeah, I encourage everyone to somehow "watermark" or sign their photos. Since it is so easy to borrow images on the Internet, you might as well do your best to make sure you get credit. And then if people do borrow your stuff, it's just like free advertising

[ThoughtfulPirate]

Yeah I just started putting my name on mine. I am pretty lazy though and forget to do it often.