jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

I spend most of my efforts over at the true macro forum . There it is preferred to check store original when submitting a photo so we can appreciate the fine detail. Do many of you do that here or is the need for cropping such that there is no gain in storing the original?

snails_pace Loc: Utah

Just my own opinions -

Recently in the main forum there was a snow goose picture that was "borrowed" from another site. I have no idea why people would misrepresent a picture as their own work. But - for example - I enter the Audubon photo contest each year and don't want to worry about which of my images may be used by someone else. Low res pics from a forum prevent future problems.

Also - I'm not a pixel peeper and non of my images are meant to be viewed at 100%. My goal is to print my work as 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 prints that are viewed at arm's length. Sitting at a computer screen and magnifying everything isn't a practice that necessarily produces good, printable pics.

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

Valid reasons, thanks for sharing

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

You've posed an interesting question. I have mixed feelings about whether to post some of my best shots or not. I often post pictures that I am using as a teaching tool or to make a point and, if appropriate, I will make it downloadable. Mostly, I reduce the size of the file to make it difficult to misappropriate it but still large enough to see some of the pertinent details. I almost always overlay a copyright notice on the picture...not that that will stop someone bound and determined to steal it. At least they can't say that they didn't know.

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

That is a very good approach.

naturepics43 Loc: Hocking Co. Ohio - USA

I too have mixed feelings on posting full size images with the download option. Snails pace & Birdpix both have valid, well stated points of view. I must confess that I'm a pixel peeper. Doing so has helped me improve my technical skills. I enjoy viewing other peoples images at 100% to appreciate the fine details. I also like to look at the EXIF info for the camera settings used. This post has made me stop and think. I have in the past used the "download" feature to let others see the fine details of an image but didn't really think about someone "borrowing" the image. I think this may be the proverbial (rock & a hard spot). I may rethink this question. My opinion has been that if the "download" was not available, the image was just a snapshot. I may have missed the boat again!

Thanks for posting this question. As for an answer? Going into this discussion, my answer was "Yes,always" but now I don't know.

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

I am also unsure