Why are there so many watermarks on the photos?

Editor/Photographer

Yes, I know - the watermarks are awful. I hate them as much as you do. They wouldn't be there unless I absolutely had to put them there, and believe me, they really are necessary.

Copyright infringement has become so bad lately that I'm actually spending more time tracking down and dealing with infringers than shooting new photos! With the non-watermarked images, businesses are taking them and using them on web sites, brochures, billboards, TV ads and more without paying me the normal fee. Stolen copies on social media divert traffic from this site to the accounts of infringers, robbing me of exposure and new followers (credit lines don't do any good, contrary to popular belief). Polite notices to not copy the photos, even right on the images, don't help. Those notices are just cropped right out by the theives (see this recent example)!

Without license fees, I can't continue to shoot new photos. My photography is a labor of love, yes - but I still have to put gas in my car, buy groceries and pay my health care costs.

I have always hated the idea of watermarks. I want to show the detail of the scenes at as high of a resolution as possible, just as much as you want to see them that way, too. But doing that is like an electronics store not having the little security tags on all of their products. Without the security, they'd lose so much inventory to theft that they'd eventually have to significantly raise prices for the good paying customers (or even shut down completely!). That's not fair to anyone, either buyer or seller.

The watermarks will not appear on purchased prints or legitimately-licensed images. They are only there to protect the copies of the images that are freely viewable on the web.

I hope you can understand my decision to put the watermarks on the images. The watermarks have to be big and complex, because modern editing software can easily remove smaller and more simple ones. The stress and anger from seeing my work stolen so much and the attitudes of the theives is wearing away at my quality of life. I need relief from the constant copyright battles so that I can get back to doing what I love to do: shooting new images of St. Louis, storms and weather across the USA.

Thank you for your support - it has always meant a lot!

- Dan