protection
Copyright…Protection?
I’ve been thinking today about how us photographers can protect our ideas and our work. The internet although a great place to share and promote our work is not hugely secure. Any image posted to the internet can be stolen without your knowledge and used by someone else as there own. There are some techniques out there that try to stop this happening but most of them aren’t that effective and can easily be by-passed. The only effective ways to protect your images online include using not very subtle watermarks in a prominent place or only posting very low resolution versions of your images.
There are laws in place to protect us but how effective are they? Have your images ever been stolen or used without permission? If so, what course of action did you take?
I’ve included a couple of links below for some factual reading on the subject regarding copyright law but obviously this is mostly UK specific I believe the laws do vary slightly depending on what international borders are crossed!! The whole subject is a bit of minefield but an interesting one for discussion…Do you have any useful links to add to this list?
UK Copyright Service P-16 – Photography and Copyright
UK Copyright Service P-05- Copyright Infringement: What to do?
Digital Photography School: How to protect your digital images online
Filters: What and Why?
Filters offer a host of potential to a photographer – both on a functional and creative level. To provide an initial insight I thought I’d put together a list of filter types – explain their function, and give an example of what you can achieve with some of them.
Before we get into that though, just a quick word about filter systems. When you’re looking at buying filters there are two distinct types (although some filter types are only available as one or the other):
- the circular type which screw into the end of your lens
- these must be the appropriate size for your lens – if you check the front of your lens, around the rim there will be a symbol like a circle with a vertical line through. The figure next to this tells you the required filter size for your lens.
- adapter rings can also be purchased which allow you to use different sized filters on different lenses.
- square filter system lenses
- these work in conjunction with a filter holder, which attaches to the end of the lens.
- common systems are provided by Cokin (the ‘P’ range is a popular place for amateurs to start) and Lee.
Clear Filters: A clear filter has no purpose other than to protect the end of your lens. These are not as common as they used to be as most people now use UV or Skylight filters (see below) for lens protection.
UV/Skylight Filters: Although these are primarily used for lens protection they were designed to improve image quality by reducing the amount of UV light which penetrates the lens – reducing haziness. Although cheaper quality filters can have a detrimental effect on image quality – including increased risk of flare and image aberration.
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