50+ Photo-Sharing Tips For Traffic and Against Theft

Do you think your photos (artwork, videos, etc.) are good enough to sell? If so, you might wonder about issues such as privacy, theft and the best SEO practices for sharing your photographs. In this article, Linda shares tips that anyone can use to bring attention to a site and to a graphic design or photography business. At the same time, she shares tips that can help protect you and your photos from theft, privacy concerns and more.

Professionalism Can Belong to Anyone

Have you ever looked at a photo and thought, "I could do so much better"? If so, then why aren't you doing it? The difference between a pro and an amateur lies in the quality of a photograph, but it also relies equipment, experience, skill and savvy. Talent has something to do with it all, but the person who uses SEO tactics may sell more photos than the person who is Ansel Adams reincarnated.

With those ideas in mind, the following article consists of lists that are categorized by topic and that deal only with the topic of selling or sharing your photographs online. No matter if you are just starting out or a bona-fide pro who makes a living selling photographs, you might pick up an idea from somewhere in this list that can help boost sales and still protect your work and address your privacy concerns.

The following tips are geared toward sharing and selling photographs; but, you can substitute "photos" or "photographs" for "artwork" or "videos" to add a few tips to those game plans, too.

Privacy and Safety

1.When you pick a photo-sharing site for your photography repository, read the fine print closely. Make sure that when you upload photographs, you aren't giving them away to the site owners.

2.Be critical of your photographs and look closely at details. Is that a credit card lying on that table? Does the name of a child's school or a house number reveal that child's location? Don't let your ego stand in the way of someone's safety and privacy (or your own, for that matter).

3.One reporter I hired submitted photos of a child's birthday party for an online story. In each photograph, the children were posing naturally, but they inadvertently appeared in compromising positions (girl with legs spread on a swing, etc.). I could not use the photos, even though I had parental permission, as I consciously could not upload those photos and consider the child safe from online or in-person predators. If you think like a predator yet use self-censorship before you upload photos, then chances are that you can help keep a few folks safe from some predators.

4.You might think like a boss or an employer as well as you examine a photograph before you post it. While some personal photographs might help others get to know you better, compromising positions never are flattering and usually are remembered long after you delete them.

5.Avoid using photographs that show your friends (or even your enemies) in compromising positions. Lawsuits still exist, and people will use them if they feel you've invaded their privacy. Show the photograph to the people involved and get permission from them before you post, even on a private photo-sharing site. Use a permission form like the one posted at Marstons Mills Public Library [PDF] or you can learn more about model releases at Wikipedia and read a professional perspective on model releases at Dan Heller's site.

6.As a professional photographer, you may realize that even buildings have "rights," especially if they are considered private property. Learn more about photographic authorship at PhotoSecrets.

7.If you attend a party, be aware of photographers and phone photographers. While you might trust your friends, do you really know everyone at that party? Putting the shoe on the other foot, don't photograph people you do not know without their permission.

8.One tip on photographing a scene that includes a lot of people is to photograph the shot with people facing away from the camera. While many backsides aren't as pretty as some front views, at least you have protected yourself somewhat from any complaints or lawsuits if you publish that photograph without permissions.

9.In some cases, file sharing may be safer than sharing photographs by email. Look for privacy file-sharing sites that come with a guarantee and that are easy to use.

10.If you want true privacy and safety, think like a parent who wants to protect his or her kids. Browse photo-sharing safety sites to learn more tips on how to protect yourself and your friends and business relationships from harm. One such article is located at the Internet Safety Wiki, where you can learn more about safety features included in all the top photo-sharing sites.

11.A photo-selling site is more likely to be set up for search engine algorithms to help searchers find photographs on that site. More often, the ability to keep photos private could be optional on those sites. Be sure to  seek those options out to learn how to keep your photos away from search engines if you desire.

12.One rule to remember: Once your photographs are picked up by a search engine, they will remain on that search engine for a long time, if not forever. You can remove a photograph, but the search engines may show it long after you remove it. Precautions on the front end are the only way you can save yourself, period.

13.Read more about photo sharing and privacy issues at Over-Exposed? Privacy Patterns and Considerations in Online and Mobile Photo Sharing [PDF] and Development Photography Ethics.