Before booking your professional photography services for your upcoming destination wedding in Carmel, CA, be sure to review our FAQ. Our photojournalistic style will dazzle you as your bridal photographs in Pebble Beach, CA will be spectacular. We're proud to be the premiere Carmel Wedding Photographer capturing your memories.

digital content

 

QJust be straight with me, are there *any* types of copy protection on these files? Nothing sneaky?

AIt truly is sad that we get asked this question time and time again; definitely telling as to the methods utilized by some unscrupulous photographers in the profession.  Alas, you don't need to worry though, *no* we do not utilize any tricky copy protection methods so that you're unable to make prints for your own personal (i.e., non-commercial) purposes. In fact, the high-resolution digital image files we provide you on CD/DVD are actually the exact same files we used to generate proof prints and/or enlargements that are included with our photo packages.

So, let me answer this question in a very straight forward manner:  NO, we do not encrypt, watermark, deface, or otherwise inhibit the use of the high-resolution digital files we provide to you with your event package.  Period.

 

QOK, you say the digital files are free of copy protection, how about the actual prints & enlargements?

AAgain, we do not have the lab, as part of their printing process, utilize any of the typical copy protection devices other photographers have a nasty habit of using.  For example, we do not foil stamp or otherwise print our name, logo, or copyright symbol on the front of the print.

However, we should note that we do use Kodak's professional like of Endura paper (a fantastic product mind you) and that paper actually does have two copy protection devices built-in that you should know about. Before I go on though, I must point out that it is truly impossible for us to request that these devices not be used as it is actually, quite literally, built in to the physical paper the prints and enlargements are printed on. I know of no professional quality photographic paper that does not incorporate either one or both of these copy protection mechanisms; thus, it truly is impossible for us to have the prints produced on any other variety of paper that lacks these features.  Sorry about that!

Anyway, the first mechanism utilized is simply backprinting in very light gray type the words "Professional Images are Copyright Protected." This of course is on the back side of the print and in no way is visible from the front of the print.

Next, and I'm not totally sure what method they use to do this, Kodak Endura papers are either magnetically tagged or utilize trace levels of ultraviolet inks that trigger computer scanners to stop scanning due to the paper being a "Professional Copyright Image." What this really is designed to do is prevent someone from using a high-resolution computer scanner to obtain, in a rather circuitous manner, a high-resolution digital file of the image. Of course, such copy protection really doesn't matter in your case given that you already have the original high-resolution digital files on CD/DVD!

So, what all that boils down to is that we don't, just like the digital content, deface your photographs in order to prevent you from making our own prints.

 

QWill you put a watermark on the images?

AAbsolutely not! We're quite aware that many, many photographers place their logo or other various watermarks (e.g., text that reads "copyright," "all rights reserved," et cetera) on their images to discourage duplication and sharing.

As demonstrated in our event package pricing structure, we believe that payment for our professional skills should occur up-front in black and white as opposed to "hiding the ball" by offering a low teaser price and then nickle-and-dimeing you after the event is done and over (aka, "holding your photos hostage"). One of the most prevalent methods of such deceptive pricing practices is through the use of watermarks that effectively deface the photograph so horribly that the client is "forced" to purchase grossly overpriced digital images/prints/enlargements directly from the photographer which are free of the watermarks (e.g., $25 for a single 4" x 6" proof print, $200 or more for one high-res digital image file, etc.).

Amie Morgan Photography abhors this practice and takes no part in it. At first bush at our a-la-carte prices may seem to run contrary to our up-front pricing model; however, upon closer inspection you'll quickly realize that when you order enlargements from us directly we do not mark up the price and merely pass on our printing fees plus the time it takes to ensure the digital image is calibrated to the exact tone and color of the digital printer being utilized (a rather time consuming process that is never done at your local/online photo finisher). Additionally, the photo finishers that we use are professional-caliber, use pro-level papers & color correction technology, and are not available for general public access (for example, this is the reason why the paper we print on simply is not used at any of the major online printers such as snapfish.com, shutterfly.com, etc.). To be quite frank, we only mark our a-la-carte enlargement prices up by around 15% to cover the time, shipping fees, and so forth necessary to actually order the prints on your behalf (it's truly a convenience to you that we offer this service...it's by no means a "money maker" like other photographers make it).

The only place that you'll see our watermark is on our online slide shows (e.g., look at the slide show that displays on our homepage in the bottom right corner). Of course, any image used within your slide show is provided without watermark among the digital images on CD/DVD.

 

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Carmel and Monterey Wedding, Special Event, Family, and Baby Photographer / photojournalist.