Your Photographer: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due. {Charleston Photography}

Photo Credit: A Kraeiski

I recently saw that a fellow photographer had an image he captured, shared by the celebrity in the image on Instagram. Then a major celebrity magazine shared the image again. Neither giving the photographs owner any credit. That inspired me to write this post. 

Let me start by saying, I have been so so blessed with my business. The Lord has blessed me with this talent and it is my goal in life to use it to the best of my ability. I use it to capture lasting memories for families so one day they can look back and remember these days. The days when their baby was determined not to smile during his session, or when we had to use crackers to get her attention! I use this talent for teens & adults suffering from low self esteem to create beautiful images of THEM so they see for themselves just how beautiful they really are. I use it for businesses to continue to grow and be successful through images on their websites & advertisements. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. This talent is my passion. Every single image I create for every single person, family, and business, I put my whole heart and soul into. Everything from shooting the actual image, to the many many hours and long nights I spend in the post editing process.  It's my art and my life.

So many people don't understand the true importance of crediting their photographer when sharing images.  I love love love (a million times love!) when people share my images on social media.. Facebook, Instagram, etc. That tells me they love what they see and they want the world to see it too! It truly makes my heart happy! But as photographers, so often our name gets left off of those beautiful creations during the sharing process. Most of the time, it's simply because they forgot to post photo credits or didn't realize just how important it really is to the photographer. We're all human, I know, it happens. Yes, I want you to share them and show them off, absolutely I do. But as an artist, it breaks my heart when I'm not credited for the images I've created. For photographers, these images are our babies, and we cherish them.

So, as a reminder, please be kind to your photographer. If you love the image enough to share it, please please be kind enough to let the world know who created it. Trust me, it means more to them than you can imagine.