Why You Should Credit All Photos You Share

It is amazing to me how many people "Share" not just my photos but those of others in this rush to fill your pages with constant content. Willy nilly.

I know it is the Wild, Wild West out there but crediting photos is the right thing to do. Whether they are your photos or those someone else created, you "Like", and want to "Share" on your Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or wherever.

Have you realized how very selfish it is not to credit? How unprofessional? Also how foolish, if they are your own photos? Have you thought this through?

If you haven't produced your own photos, then you can't possibly imagine in your wildest dreams what goes into creating a great photo. If you have created your own photos, and I see many who "Share" photos have Shared with no credits, and that includes some magazines, then I have to say it: Shame on you …

Let me walk you through what I have gone through with my own photos and maybe the light will begin to dawn.

When I art directed photos, I handled the pre-production and post-production and worked with the hairdressers to innovate and create new hairstyles. The hair dresser, makeup artist, fashion stylist, model, photographer and more have often put their whole heart into the photos, often for very little or for no money at all. Yes, some get paid, but it is still a major effort on the part of all concerned to do something worth while.

As a photographer, I get involved in editing and selecting from hundreds sometimes thousands of photos, retouching, re-sizing, re-naming, etc. And that is more work than most realize. Go to my NY Fashion Week photos and Facebook Biz Buzz page and see what I mean.

When I scan photos for my archives, my legacy, therefore very important to me (www.helenoppenheim.com) I sometimes have to scan three or four times to get all the hair in as I go from black and white prints to 35mm slides on film. Many of them require a lot of tidying up of dust marks and scratches. Then I have to re-size each photo and identify.

For all, I write or give links to thopefully useful information, many how-to's and I credit. Carefully.

Can you just stop a minute, and imagine how I feel, how horrified I am, when I see my photos up there on Social Media, often not credited at all?!!! Some don't even Share my words I have put on say my Facebook Biz Buzz, or the name of the hairdresser, and run a risk by not crediting the photographer, who owns the copyright to all photos, unless there was a buy-out.

I am sure many of you know exactly what I am talking about. And weep as I have.

Then, there are those who do not credit their own photos with intelligence. Take the case of Pinterest for example. As an Editor, I often go there and see really beautiful photos and hair. I'd love to give some a full page. But most give only the name of the Pinner. There is no way for a busy editor or, in some cases, anyone, to know who actually did the great hair. Your photo is up there, lost in cyberspace so to speak. And you are getting nothing whatsoever out of having your work being there. So please be more aware.

I'm not great on social media, I admit it, I just don't do it enough, but I am honorable, sensitive to the creativity out there, and hopefully the ideas, information and inspiration I give is always useful to help you go the extra mile.

I also hope some of you will heed the cries of distress coming from hearts like mine and credit at least the hairdresser, the photographer and, in my case, my website. I know it takes more time and we are all very busy but look at this way. You wouldn’t have the photo to Share in the first place if a lot of people hadn't put a major effort into creating it.

 

 

Originally posted on Modern Salon