Photo watermark – I don’t use them

I had a meeting with a new client today. She asked me a question that no other potential client asked – do I watermark my photos?

I thought it was an interesting question and made me wonder how photography clients really feel about watermarks.

In case you don’t know what a watermark is – it’s can either be the logo or the name of the photographer printed someplace on the photo. Sometimes the watermark is small, discrete and tucked away in a corner. Sometimes it’s rather big and noticeable.

The quick answer to the client’s question is no, I do not put watermarks on my photos. I have experimented with doing this in the past and decided about a year or so ago I would no longer do it. This decision came after a request from a bride after I sent her all her photos with the name of my company in the corner. She asked if I would resend them to her without the company name and I did just that.

Client request to not watermark

I don’t know why in particular the bride didn’t want my company name on the photos but I was not bothered by her request at all. It made me wonder how people being photographed really feel about watermarks. My guess is that they really don’t care for them.

The reason I don’t put watermarks on my photos is simple. Besides the fact that it takes more work to watermark the photos, the main reason is that there really is no good place on a photo to put a watermark. My preference would be to put it in a bottom corner. The problem with that, however, is that if the client happens to print the photo, the photo I sent them doesn’t always fit perfectly in size 5-by-7 or 8-by-10.

The ratio of the photo taken in camera often is larger than these standard sizes, meaning that when the photo is printed part of the image will be cut off. When there’s a watermark in the corner, there’s a good chance part of it will be cut off when clients try to print photos on their own. And frankly, that’s going to look terrible.

Watermark to promote business

I’m pretty safe in saying that the reasons photographers watermark their photos is to promote their own business name and prevent anyone else from claiming their photos as their own.

My feeling is that if a friend or family member asks a client who took the photo hanging on their wall, the client will share my name without me having to plaster my name somewhere on the image.

So this watermark issue is probably one more thing that sets me apart from other photographers. When you book with me, you don’t have to worry about having an advertisement posted on your photo.