Barbara Jo

I have been given the opportunity to do photo shoots at a local kids rodeo (yea) but they want to charge for the pictures. I know I need to water mark my pictures so I would like to know what is the best software for Windows 10 with a tech challenged person at the helm? Also what would the process be for getting the photos to the families buying them?

Thanks for any advise you can give me. This is a dream come true for me.

FrumCA

Hi Barbara - most photo editors have a module that will let you add watermarks to your photos. What editor are you using?

Barbara Jo

Did I say tech lacking. I am not using an editor. I do not alter any of my photos since my mentor pounded into me that if I learn to take a good picture it will not need to be altered. Hope that is what you mean.

FrumCA

Your mentor is correct. That said and given that you plan to only use Win 10, I believe your only option will be to use one of the many free apps that are available for download on the web. The built-in Win 10 photo app does not have any capability to add watermarks. If you do a Google or Bing search for "Add watermark to photo using win 10" you will get many choices to select from. I'm not aware of any other way to add a watermark unless you use a photo editor such as Lightroom. Hope this helps.

Barbara Jo

Thank you so much for that info. Then do I email the photos to the buyer or print them out and mail them?

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Fastone viewer is free and will let you add your signature or watermark in a batch mode. You'll need to create the watermark and save/export as a PNG file or equivalent so that the background is transparent. There are probably a dozen other solutions...

While I'm always in favor for "getting it right in the camera", there are very few photos that can't be improved by some (even minimal) post processing, even if it's just cropping and touching up the exposure. There are a number of no/low cost alternatives depending on what platform you use. If it's a "dream come true", then you want to produce your best possible work.

Barbara Jo

TriX, Thank you so much for this information. As I learn I am sure I will also do some editing so maybe by the spring when I start shooting I will be better at this. I love doing the action shots and have done very well so far.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

For starters:
Have a form printed up showing prices for different size pictures.

Get a business license.

Get a tax ID with the state so you can collect sales tax.

Do sales on-site, the longer you wait to sell pics the less likely you are to make sales. You will have much fewer sales if you use a site like Zenfolio in hopes that people will order from there. If they can log on anytime and look at the pictures why buy them? Also, they can copy the picture off the site.

Getting pictures to your customers: You take the orders on-site. You have three options for delivering the orders. (1) they can pick them up at your place. (2) you can have their order sent to you and then mail it to your customer. (3) You can place individual orders and have the lab UPS their order to their address. If you use a service like Zenfolio you choose where to have the orders delivered. Be sure to charge extra to cover the delivery charges.

Set up an account at a place like Intuit so you can do check and credit card payments on site

http://sbconnect.intuit.com/smallbusiness?ID=G14800&sc=BNR-000-GGL-intuit&site=&network=search&ad_id=70317956453&keyword=intuit&target=sbconnect.intuit.com/smallbusiness&cid=ppc_google_1-sbg-strategy-campaign_intuit_exact&cvosrc=ppc.google.intuit&matchtype=e&adposition=1t1&creative=70317956453&content=&cvo_search=1&mobile=&ef_id=Vyf3FwAABU6a3hGW:20161013232226:s

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

First, you can mail a disk with the pix or you can print the pic and mail it or as you said you can email it and another option is to put it on line and let them download it. . That is up to you and the person buying the pic.
My photography mentor said to always always always work on your pic. No matter how good you are, no matter how
great the color is, no matter how centered and on and on, editing can make it better. I haven't taken the perfect picture yet , I never will and even with extensive
editing they are still not the perfect pic. INfact the more I shoot, the less I like my work. I can always find a problem with it.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

If you are not going to edit then shoot in jpeg so the camera will process the image for you. If you shoot in raw you really need to edit it.

FrumCA

Jim's suggestions are all good but I would not be too concerned about someone downloading your photos from Zenfolio if you decided to use that sometime in the future. All your photos can be protected from downloading in their full resolution. Here's Zenfolio's explanation on Allowing or Disallowing the Downloading of Original Files:

By default, security measures are put in place that prevents site visitors from downloading copies of your originally uploaded images in their full resolution. However, the photographer is also given the option to allow the downloading of copies of original images for free.

Photographers can choose to allow the free downloading in just some specific groups or galleries.

If the photographer chooses to allow the free downloading of original images for free, site visitors will be able to download the images from the gallery's thumbnails page and from the photo pages. They will also be given the option to download all of the downloadable images in the gallery in one zip file.

The option to download original files is only available to visitors who can access the photographs. For example: visitors can never access Private photographs- so even if the free downloading of original images has been allowed, site visitors will not be able to download images from the Private gallery since the gallery will never be displayed to visitors.

Barbara Jo

FrumCA, Great information and explained so that I completely understand it. My head was spinning with fear of the unknown but now I feel I can tackle this and only screw it up slightly. LOL Thanks so much

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Try ACDSee Pro. I am pretty sure it has a module that allows you to place a watermark, either text or graphics, in the image.

And, there is nothing wrong with using an editor; try it.

Barbara Jo

As I learn I plan on using an editor but as they say in the car racing life, I want to get some good seat time, first. Thank you for the encouragement.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

I meant to attach this link for a great tutorial on watermarks:

http://f64academy.com/watermarks-in-photoshop-with-brushes/

Also, if you use an editor, you can add a complete copyrwright/specific use statement into the image's metadata, which could protect you in the future.