The Tag Game
I don’t write this to piss people off, no bad feelings ok? ;) But, to be honest, it annoys me a bit that some boybloggers are thinking it’s a good idea to tag the images they post with a watermark. That’s something that is perfectly fine if you’re the photographer who made the picture or the model on it but why do you think you should spoil and deface a good image by putting your big tag on it if you were not involved in the making of it? I do tag some photos too but only if they are explicitly made for this blog like the photos from Joe. But what’s the point of tagging something you just found somewhere else, something that doesn’t belong to you in any way?
Harmless example compared to some stuff out there
I mean, you know it’s too much if you can’t see the boy under the tag like here. It’s getting funny when one tag is getting is black-washed to add another one *sigh* So, please: leave Britney the photos alone. Ask other bloggers to link back to you if you feel like they are copying your stuff but don’t take credit for the work of others by implying it’s your photo by putting your name or URL on it. Art should be free and published but we should not modify it in such an ugly way.
Like I said: No bad feelings, just sayin’ ;)


about 11 months ago
I know how you feel, I used to do that so I guess I am guilty but I don’t anymore. One of these days I will get to replacing them. It seems like a good idea at first but I know what you mean. The tag above ruins all the emotion in the photo.
about 11 months ago
Thanks for saying that again!!!!!!!!, keep up your good work!!!!!!!!, HUGS To YOU
about 11 months ago
Well, learn something new every day!! I’m new to all this, but I was wondering how some seemingly average Joes took such professional- looking pictures… I would think that people would have realized long ago that an artist deserves the credit for their own work. And, you’re right, the watermark does ruin the image, so keep your mitts off if you did’nt create the image!!
about 11 months ago
Totally agree! Watermarks ruin images. I personally wouldn’t even put them on my own work, though I understand that it’s nice to get some credit or recognition for one’s creative efforts. But defacing someone else’s work to shamelessly promote your own website is unforgivable.
PS: This is my first comment. Been reading the blog for a while. Nice work!
about 11 months ago
The good news is that with a freeware photoshop program and a little bit of practice you can get pretty good at removing the watermarks, mostly using the clone tool.
I actually find it relaxing to do that with web finds.
about 11 months ago
You, Sir, have some strange hobbies lol
about 11 months ago
I’ve updated the post with two examples:
about 11 months ago
It does seem a strange thing to do Josh. Sure we put up other peoples work and maybe we just get the credit for having chosen by our choice the odd good picture. But of course if it is my own pic of a boy or celebrity then I might put up a very small signature/watermark, as I did for a photo of a hot young actor this last week.
But you’re right, those two enclosed samples you’ve put up look truly awful and it’s wrong to do that.
about 11 months ago
Oh Josh, In your post below (Blonde boy Janus Dissing Rathke) well the film you’re looking for with him in it is called SKYMASTER, A FLYING FAMILY FIARYTALE. It was released on dvd by Amazon in Jan 2009.
about 11 months ago
Is it just me,or does the guy laying on the floor look like Macaulay Culkin?I’m not saying it IS him, just that he looks like him.
about 11 months ago
He does look like him a bit.
about 11 months ago
Hey Josh, I am guilty of putting watermarks on my own images. However in saying that, one of the things I try to do is not cover the boy in the picture. To go right across his face? I will say though that doing this in hopes of bringing more traffic to your site isn’t worth all the effort. I found that the best way to get traffic to a blog is to get it listed on MILKBOYS! Hehe.
about 11 months ago
I agree with you there Leonidas.
But this is the real Mac Culkin http://fuckyeahmacaulayculkin.tumblr.com/
about 11 months ago
I agree with you “Art should be free” and art author must be respected. keep your good work, i love this blog (milkboys)
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ninolgbt.blogspot.com
about 11 months ago
Your right Josh. I did it for awhile but stopped because it went against how I feel. I did it to get people to come to my site but now I only do it to photos I make myself. Any ways here is a photo for you that I shot. I know he may be a little too old (18) for most peoples standards.
about 11 months ago
hmm photo did not show up, eh oh well
about 11 months ago
It’s actually illegal – even a criminal offense – to put another name or URL on a picture that’s not yours, without consent. Some paysites do it, and they don’t mind stealing all the pictures in the first place.
Putting a watermark on your own picture is useful. But please use a discreet one, not one that spoils the whole picture. The more discreet it is, the less others are inclined to remove it.
about 9 months ago
Ha ha, you KNOW I agree with you…what I like are the pics where the info is encoded, so that you can see who shot it, with what camera, and at which shutter speed–and they need never touch the image itself! I love your weblog, and thank you for visiting my humble abode…