is it safe to post your photos on Facebook as advertisement ?

Picture North Carolina wrote in post #11473847
I see. That makes sense, and yes - that's more of a word-of-mouth referral because there has been previous (legitimate business) contact between those involved.

I just assumed the context of "stolen" here was referring to the normal situation where a stranger rips a picture and uses it for whatever purpose, without credit or connection to the originating photographer.

As for the OP, no it's not safe. But the reference to Facebook is pointless. The subject line could have been easily written as:

"is it safe to post your photos on the internet as advertisement ?"

The only difference between Facebook, Flickr, and your personal website, gallery or blog is traffic.

Your photos can be stolen anytime from anywhere, even right here on POTN.

The difference between facebook/myspace (ie social networking) and other random internet spots is that people use pics (portraits anyway) to share, show off, and discuss. Its quite valuable. My website in fact goes neglected because facebook is where my business is.

Random pics? I agree. There's not much money in that anyway, IMHO.

Facebook is a great tool that should be embraced by every business. It is the best referal system in the world for family, portrait, and model clients. For the photographer, it is best if they watermark their images and request that they not be cropped or the the logo removed. I even provide model clients with a folder on the CD marked "Facebook". I get 5+ customer requests from FB every week and about 10% become clients.

-Scott

facebook is quite wonderful.

Do you all have dedicated Facebook photography pages? I'd like to get some Facebook traffic, but I'm curious as to what all you've found to be successful? Did you create a "Fan" type page, or just upload your images to your personal Facebook account, etc..?

Someone already mentioned that any photos of indivduals clearly, recognizably and prominently shown in photos used for advertisement should be properly model released. That's true.

A key exception would be if you are simply displaying a portfolio of images. As of now, this would not require a model release.

I would only put unreleased photos in a gallery that people can view as examples of your work - i.e. a "virtual portfolio" - and not show them on any web page that's explicitly soliciting work. There's some question about this... If an online portfolio is truly the same as a printed portfolio such as we were limited to before the Internet? There will probably be some precedent setting cases eventually... I just don't want to be caught up in one of those.

CallumPhoto wrote in post #11473443
Everyone fusses to much over stealing images, it's only an issue if they would have otherwise paid for them. facebook image quality sucks anyway, what are they going to do with them?

to be honest i'm kinda flattered when i see my images "stolen", just on a facebook sort of level.

I had an image stolen; it was used in an ad only 150x150 pixels on the web. I sent them a bill for the use & got a 4-figure payment. If I hadn't accidentally found that 'stolen' image, stealing that license fee is the same as taking money out of my pockets & away from my family.

- Using my photos is always free; it's my permission to use my photos that costs money.

BrandonSi wrote in post #11474161
Do you all have dedicated Facebook photography pages? I'd like to get some Facebook traffic, but I'm curious as to what all you've found to be successful? Did you create a "Fan" type page, or just upload your images to your personal Facebook account, etc..?

I have been reading a lot on this subject and my recommendation is to create a fan page.

Reasons:
Facebook Insights - you can view statistics such as, monthly active users, daily new likes, daily post views and daily post feedback.

You can try to target a certain audience of potential clients and create ads.

If you are an active FB user and post non related photography content on your wall, and post comments on friends posts, your fans and clients will be subjected to all of that on their news feed and may eventually remove themselves as a friend. If you create a fan page, your fans and clients will see on their news feed only the photography related content they were hoping to see once they decided to become a fan.

When you sign up for a fan page, they have an option for artist (visual artist).
http://www.facebook.co​m …&placement=pghm​&extra_1=0

rjx wrote in post #11475658
You can try to target a certain audience of potential clients and create ads.

You don't need a fan page to do this.

rjx wrote in post #11475658
If you are an active FB user and post non related photography content on your wall, and post comments on friends posts, your fans and clients will be subjected to all of that on their news feed and may eventually remove themselves as a friend. If you create a fan page, your fans and clients will see on their news feed only the photography related content they were hoping to see once they decided to become a fan.

I've lost a few along the way but most seem to like my personality.

rjx wrote in post #11475658
I have been reading a lot on this subject and my recommendation is to create a fan page.

Reasons:
Facebook Insights - you can view statistics such as, monthly active users, daily new likes, daily post views and daily post feedback.

You can try to target a certain audience of potential clients and create ads.

If you are an active FB user and post non related photography content on your wall, and post comments on friends posts, your fans and clients will be subjected to all of that on their news feed and may eventually remove themselves as a friend. If you create a fan page, your fans and clients will see on their news feed only the photography related content they were hoping to see once they decided to become a fan.

When you sign up for a fan page, they have an option for artist (visual artist).
http://www.facebook.co​m …&placement=pghm​&extra_1=0

Thanks, that's just the kind of opinion I was looking for. My facebook page is mainly a foursquare post aggregator (don't you guys just hate people like me on FB?! ) so I think a dedicated page for photography is the way to go. I like the separation of the two.

cdifoto wrote in post #11475693
I've lost a few along the way but most seem to like my personality.

That's a good point. But I think it can be both positive and negative, depending on many factors.

A person can also show their personality when posting on their fan page and can still post off topic content if they wish. But on a friend page, the client will have to sift through many post's they may not be interested in just to find specific content. The photographer's website and fan page imo should be more direct with this info and not operate on the assumption the client is willing to spend time searching for specific content. One of the articles I read had a good point that a FB fan page can be used as a real time extension of the businesses website.

I don't want to come across as arguing, i'm just offering a different viewpoint. Obviously what you are doing is working well for you and probably would make no sense to change your format. I think it goes back to what I said in the beginning of this post that it depends on many factors. An example would be me making an occasional sexual related post on FB. Or expressing my political and religious views from time to time. I am not willing to take the risk of my occasional polarizing comments affecting my fan and future client base. I wouldn't have that content on my business website.

BrandonSi wrote in post #11475712
so I think a dedicated page for photography is the way to go. I like the separation of the two.

I agree. It's just a personal preference. It's like mixing business with pleasure. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For me, i'm not sure it's worth the risk combining the two.

rjx wrote in post #11475912
That's a good point. But I think it can be both positive and negative, depending on many factors.

A person can also show their personality when posting on their fan page and can still post off topic content if they wish. But on a friend page, the client will have to sift through many post's they may not be interested in just to find specific content. The photographer's website and fan page imo should be more direct with this info and not operate on the assumption the client is willing to spend time searching for specific content. One of the articles I read had a good point that a FB fan page can be used as a real time extension of the businesses website.

I don't want to come across as arguing, i'm just offering a different viewpoint. Obviously what you are doing is working well for you and probably would make no sense to change your format. I think it goes back to what I said in the beginning of this post that it depends on many factors. An example would be me making an occasional sexual related post on FB. Or expressing my political and religious views from time to time. I am not willing to take the risk of my occasional polarizing comments affecting my fan and future client base. I wouldn't have that content on my business website.

I agree with you. Most of my fb friends are high school kids though and they're WAY dirtier than I am. Especially the girls.

picard wrote in post #11448887
is it safe to post your photos on Facebook as advertisement ?

what are pros & cons of setting up your gallery on FB ?

For what it's worth, I sort of like the embossed watermarks on images used for display purposes.

Someone said the watermark spread around could be a benefit. And that's true many times if the watermark or text overlaid is significant.

As for Facebook, I don't like using it. It just seems like a third world country in regards to shopping at for customers.

I'd never look for a plumber there, nor doctor, nor a brake specialist. Definitely not where I'd look for in regards to a photographer.

mdvaden wrote in post #11480596
For what it's worth, I sort of like the embossed watermarks on images used for display purposes.

Someone said the watermark spread around could be a benefit. And that's true many times if the watermark or text overlaid is significant.

As for Facebook, I don't like using it. It just seems like a third world country in regards to shopping at for customers.

I'd never look for a plumber there, nor doctor, nor a brake specialist. Definitely not where I'd look for in regards to a photographer.

You don't just sit back and hope people find you. It won't work because that's not how facebook works.

enlightphoto wrote in post #11475451
I had an image stolen; it was used in an ad only 150x150 pixels on the web. I sent them a bill for the use & got a 4-figure payment. If I hadn't accidentally found that 'stolen' image, stealing that license fee is the same as taking money out of my pockets & away from my family.

- Using my photos is always free; it's my permission to use my photos that costs money.

Common sense should be applied when people read my posts, obviously there's not perfect solution. Just the best one for that indvidual. If the risk isn't worth the reward don't put them on the net.