Good Info on How to Protect Your Online Images

Good Info on How to Protect Your Online Images

On 06.10.14, In DMCA, Tips & Tricks, by Carolyn E. Wright

Posting images online has its benefits and disadvantages. One of the benefits is that you get to easily share your photos. One of the disadvantages is that others want you to share your photos more than you want. So you must do what you can to prevent that “extra” sharing.

Smartly, some photographers rely on watermarks applied via an overlay to control unauthorized uses. But Al Berger of www.CunninghamStudio.com and www.ProRodeoPix.com has discovered that method can be thwarted.  He has given permission to share his discovery here:

I was excited to read your article on Lynda.com regarding posting images online.

I recently came across a web article on fstoppers.com in which Jesse Chen, a Facebook Software Engineer, Teaches You How to Steal Copyrighted Images.  According to his bio, Jesse Chen is a software engineer at Facebook and recent graduate of UC Berkeley.  Jesse has a personal blog which I recently stumbled across that includes a blog post from 2012 in which he detailed how to go about stealing copyrighted images and REMOVING WATERMARKS using Photoshop.

In trying to figure out how Mr. Chen is able to get the images off of websites, I experimented and found the instructions on Mr. Chen’s website are for users of the Google Chrome web browser.  I am normally a user of Mozilla Firefox so I wasn’t familiar with some of the options available under Google Chrome.  For example, I went to this website, http://vividwildlife.photoshelter.com, which I believe is your site.

Once there in Firefox, I “right clicked” and selected “view image” and was transported tohttp://vividwildlife.photoshelter.com/img/pixel.gif, which is a small 1 x 1 pixel transparent .gif intended to prevent people from stealing the image of the bear.

So then I went to Google Chrome and did exactly the same thing, except in Chrome the option to “view image” wasn’t available, so I chose the option to “Open image in new tab,” which again resulted in the same result as with Firefox.  Great so far: http://vividwildlife.photoshelter.com/img/pixel.gif

But using Chrome and following the steps outlined in Mr. Chen’s documentary, I went to the triple horizontal bars in the upper right side of the Chrome browser.  This is right under the “X” to exit the program.  Clicking on that opens up a pop-up window where I can choose “Tools” and then in the next pop-up window I choose “Developers Tools.”  Selecting this option opens up a window in the bottom half of the browser with the top line listing a search option and eight (8) other options.  I then click on the “Resources” option and a list of folders with the first one being “Frames” opens.  By clicking on “Frames” and then the folder right under it “(I0000VfT5iHln.48)” and scrolling down to the word “Images” and selecting “Images,” I select “1041E00000YAWNINGBEAR.jpg” and up pops the bear.  If you move your mouse over the bear image in the lower window, right click and select the option to “Open image in new tab”, the image will pop-up in a new window.

In the case of your bear photo, the copyright management information is still on the image because the author most likely, wisely, embedded it into the image.  But this is not the case on many of the photo hosting sites on the web, where the word “PROOF” is only a transparent layer posted over the image; it is not part of the original image.

For example, if you look at this site by Northern Lights photography as it is hosted on smugmug, there is CMI watermark across the bottom of the Goldcrest photo.  If you “right click” on the image a window pops up stating:

The page at www.northernlightsphotography.no says

All photos are property of Northern Lights Photography – Fredrik Broms.  All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

and you cannot proceed any further in trying to copy any image.  But using the “Developers Tools” in Chrome, I click on “Frames” and then “(25416271_qVqLC5)” and then “Images” and scroll down until I reached (the full size version) “Konge.jpg.”  I select that and “right click” on the image choosing the option “Open image in new tab” and presto: I can now see the image (740 x 1024) without the CMI and I am able to “right click” and save the image. Unfortunately, the photographer didn’t include his CMI directly on the largest file size of his images.  He has embedded it in all of the smaller versions as you can see by scrolling up after selecting the “Konge.jpg” image.

Some other photographers who have Smugmug and Photoreflect also don’t put their CMI directly in the file of their images when they upload them. Instead, they rely on the hosting sites to put .gifs over the images with “PROOF” across the viewable images.  Unfortunately, this will not protect them when it comes to Chrome.

Sadly, most photographers are unaware (as was I a week ago) of this feature that Google Chrome has included in it.   I thought I would let you know about this so you could make your clients and your audience aware of it.  I hope you find it enlightens you and is informational as well.

Thanks for sharing this information, Al!  This is helpful for photographers to know so that they may more fully protect their online images.

Check Photo Attorney on Lynda.com

Interns Wanted

TWiP Interns Wanted

by Frederick

TWiP is growing! And we’re looking to bring on a few talented interns to help us

 create the show. No relocation necessary… just a passion for photography!

(To view the application, Please left click on the "TWiP Interns Wanted" caption above. 

Time to Fling the Poo

TWiP 363 – Time to Fling the Poo

by Bruce 

Nikon stock hits a 3 year low which prompts restructuring of the company, the Camera 

Store pits 4 mirror-less bodies against the Nikon D4s in an autofocus test, & a Facebook

 software engineer posts a step-by-step guide on how to steal grad photos. Plus an

 interview  with photographer Renee Robyn.  (To view the entire article and videos please
left click on the "TWiP363-Time to Fling the Poo" caption above)

Pan-Pacific Film Festival needs volunteer photographers

About

Pan-Pacific Film Festival, PPFF, is looking for volunteer videographers and photographers to help document this year’s film festival. The job has no pay, but includes free meals and free parking for all volunteers. Volunteers must bring their own equipment. This is a great opportunity to broaden your portfolio. The team will be led by Soh Myoung Lee, the Head of PPFF’s Post-Production department.

The festival will take place from Thursday, July 24 th through Saturday, July 26 at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. It will include screenings, live ...

[+] READ MORE

Oregon Coast Film Festival

2014 Entries

Early entries for the 2014 film festival close on August 15, 2014 . You can download The Festival Brochure. Contact us directly for deadline extensions and entry information.

Submission Guidelines

Submission guidelines, fees and general information for the film festival.

Categories include:
Documentary Shorts
Feature Length
Student Film/Video Hybrid Photography.

Download: Submissions & Entry Form

Early entries will close August 15, 2014.

Event Information

The "Best of the Festival" event will held on October 11, 2014 at the Sprague Theater in Bandon, Oregon.

What’s New

• 2013 Festival Archive
• Film Festival: Version 2.0
• Who is that Photographer?
• 2014 Best of Festival Evening

From the 2013 Film Festival

Audience Choice: An Artist with a Camera
Filmmaker: Bill Kelsay

Contact Information

Oregon Coast Film Festival, LLC
Post Office Box 1341
Bandon Oregon, 97411
Phone: 541-253-6248
Email: CoastFilmFest@iCloud.com

Wildlife Photographer of the Year – cast your vote!

 by Daniela Bowker

Should you ever have thought ‘What made the judges choose that photo?’ or wondered just how tough it is to choose one stand-out image from a huge selection, now’s your chance. To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has created the People’s Choice award. Fifty images have been posted online and you get to choose your favorite.

The image that has accumulated the most votes will be announced at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards evening and be exhibited as part of the 2014 collection on display at the Natural History Museum. That exhibition opens on 24 October before embarking on an international tour. The top five People’s Choice images will be displayed online, with the rest of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014 collection.

Facebook update, Marsel van Oosten (Netherlands)

It’s a one-person-one-vote set-up; I’ve taken a look at the entries and am weighing up my vote. Some are just too obviously processed for me, but choosing a favourite isn’t going to be easy. At the moment I’m torn between a photo with a fantastic story and another that I think is technically better but narratively weaker. Ah the quandary!

Caiman night, Luciano Candisani (Brazil)

You can cast your vote over on the Wildlife Photographer of the Year website.

Did you enjoy Wildlife Photographer of the Year – cast your vote!? Share it with your friends:

Portrait Medium Format Photography by Jane Minina

Portrait Medium Format Photography by Jane Minina

Jane Minina is a 28 year-old Russian film photographer, based-in St.Petersburg. She is a huge
 fan of analogue photography, especially medium format and "Photography is a way to find balance
 in my life, to see beauty in ordinary & simple things..."

Jane loves travelling around the world and talking, also shooting people that she has ever met.
 Her film photos are all about portrait and they were shot mostly by her medium format cameras.

See more of her work at:

• Tumblr
• Flickr

Smartphone vs film: Two Hong Kong photographers go head-to-head

Smartphone cameras are ubiquitous, but will they ever replace traditional photography? We invite two very different snappers to share their thoughts and images

THE ANALOGUE PHOTOGRAPHER

One of the things Luke Casey loves most about shooting on film is the element of suspense.

“The excitement I get when I process film and see the images for the first time is truly magic,” he says. “It’s like the feeling I used to get when I opened up a pack of football stickers as a kid.”

The 28-year-old photographer grew up with disposable cameras and believes the way we enjoy photos today has become more fleeting. “We’re experiencing moments through the screen of our digital cameras instead of experiencing them first-hand. And there’s less magic in the way we relive the moments.

“We have thousands of images hidden in files on our computers and it’s incredibly hard to manage them.
Sharing images online is great, but there is something much more personal about sitting around with your family and flicking through the pages of a photo album.”

Casey, from Devon in southern England, started shooting in Japan around 2010. His first professional gig, for Dazed & Confused magazine in London, served as a springboard for his career. Last year he held his first exhibition here, “Portholes” — a record of the three and a half months he spent touring the world on a ship with Japanese NGO Peace Boat.

While he enjoys new technology, he prefers the analogue process when it comes to shooting. “It’s also about aesthetics. You don’t need any software, apps or filters to get great photos. The colours, grain and contrast are beautiful in their very nature.”

Click pictures to enlarge

A woman next to an inflatable ring.

A pedestrian in front of Canton House.

Light floods through windows at the Lamma ferry pier. Photos by Luke Casey
 

 

OLD FAITHFUL

The camera: I’ve had the Nikon FM2n almost four years now and I have no desire to shoot with anything else. It’s simple, well made, and nothing feels better than the heavy clunk when you push the shutter. You can get amazing analogue cameras in the Champagne Court in Tsim Sha Tsui. Start with a 35mm camera as the film is cheap and you get a lot of shots for your money. When you are a bit more confident, consider a medium format camera which lets you create much larger prints.

Go outside: film has the power to make everything look beautiful. Take your camera outside and shoot anything and everything and get a feel for the colours and textures you will get from film. Compare it to digital and you may never go back.

Posing in front of the Bruce Lee statue.

At Victoria Harbour.

A boy being carried along a street.

A roll of Fuji film and a cold ice tea.

An airplane as a funeral offering.

Foliage between exhaust vents.

Photos by Luke Casey

Try processing: you can easily find all the materials and chemicals you need to create your own darkroom here in Hong Kong. And look no further than online tutorials for how to do it. Processing your own roll of film from start to finish is the ultimate sense of achievement. If you are too busy for that, though, just head to Stanley Street and process a roll of film within an hour for HK$45.

Raid your parents’ drawers: they most likely still have their old cameras laying around somewhere at home. You might find a real classic.

Get to know your camera: mine has no auto setting or autofocus at all, so you need to take your time and think a little. This is a great way of educating yourself about how a camera works and applies to all types of photography. Master film and you can master any camera.
Luke Casey

THE INSTAGRAMMER

Vancouver-born Vivien Liu studied architecture in Toronto, New York and Boston, and now works as an architect in Hong Kong.

“More than eight years of architectural training has really defined my style of photography – I tend to merge the two interests and use perspective to immerse the viewer into the space where the photo was taken.”

Liu says she only began taking iPhone photography seriously in the past year or so, as she observed the way technological leaps in smartphones were allowing users to take photos that are comparable with compact, or even the most advanced cameras.

Standing on the edge of a building.Snapping pedestrians with a smartphone.Street art in Central.Reflection in a puddle.

Photos by Vivien Liu

“The most beautiful thing about it is the ability to spontaneously shoot anything, anytime, because smartphones are so portable. Sharing is also instantaneous, which is different from, say, shooting on film, where results take time to develop.”

She now has over 70,000 followers on Instagram (@vdubl) and co-organises monthly Instameets. “Once I realised that Instagram was not only a photosharing app but is also a community, I was curious to meet others who had similar interests,” she says. “As a result I made great friends.”

Liu took these shots with her iPhone 5s. She plans to continue exploring Hong Kong and sharing it with audiences around the world.

Hong Kong Island sunset are seen through an olloclip.

Building rises as light filters down.

Residential apartments.

A food vendor.

People meet at an outdoor fair.

Members of an Instameet pose around a spiral staircase.

GOT SMART

Gear up: I use an iPhone 5s; an Olloclip wide-angle lens, and a Joby Gorillapod, to provide stabilisation for time-lapse shots and slow shutter speeds.

Keep it simple: using a smartphone to shoot may seem reductive to those who are used to more complex cameras and equipment, but that is also the beauty of it. I think the attitude for creating an intriguing shot would be the same regardless of what camera you're using — you need patience and a heightened awareness of the things that are happening around you.

After effects: one of the differences with iPhoneography is that a lot of post-production can happen at your fingertips on a smartphone. Editing apps that I use most often include VSCO Cam and Snapseed. Vivien Liu