A woman of her word -

wakeupandgetreal:

WAKE UP AND GET REAL-Episode 22

Justine talks about her “older face” and how The Haters can “suck it”.

About 10 minutes ago I was looking at the statistics data for my website. If you click on the link there it will take you to my website, and the tracking software will tell me that you did so, and that you did so from this blog on tumblr. It’s nice to see where traffic is coming from, and what is driving it to your site. It’s also helpful to see when someone is using your website for purposes it should not be used for.

Example - I had a photo that I took for iStock. When I took the photo I was not happy that I could be seen in the eye of my subject. I uploaded the photo to my website in a specific folder in order to ask for help on the forum. I wanted to know, was this an issue that needed to be fixed, or was this something I could leave alone. If it did need to be fixed, how would I go about it? This was a few years ago, and I never took the photo off of my website, I actually left it there in case any other newbies wanted to look at iStock and had the same question.

Apparently this photo has become some internet hit when you search for “dog eye”. In fact it is the first image that pops up under that search. Who knew right?

Well, do a quick search for it, its a reddish dog, big black eyeball, me in the eye with my sister standing behind me. If it still pops up when you search for it, did you happen to notice the copyright symbol that I placed around the eye? I placed it there for a reason. Copyright, meaning please don’t steal this image. Well, the image now looks like the image below -

I had many many websites linking the photo back to my site, stealing my bandwidth and using the photo for tutorials etc. All without any idea whose photo it was, or giving any indication that this image was copyrighted. This makes me crazy.

Now, I want to address the difference between Copyright and Creative Commons. I choose to keep my images at the strictest level when I can. I prefer that they are not used in any way without my permission. iStock holds separate permissions over my photos to be used by their customers. Creative Commons leaves more wiggle room, and you can read about that here.

Let me be clear, a lot of people think that because you find an image on Google it means it is free for the taking. It’s not. Check with the owner of the photo before you blog with it, it’s a good way to make friends, and they will more than likely say yes. If they say no, find another photo to suit your needs. If its a stock photo and you see the stock logo on the photo, it means you are supposed to pay for it. A stock logo on a photo means its a free download used for testing out layouts. It should never be used in the final layout of a website.

If you know someone who works for a stock photo agency (*raises hand*) they can often give you coupons or discount codes for when you first sign up to a site so that you can get a certain amount of free images with your first purchase.

As a stock photographer I have learned some interesting rules about copyright, creative commons, things that you can and cannot take photos of for profit, and I have become a little bit of a copyright police officer in my spare time.

In my next post I will discuss the time I was accused of artistic plagiarism, and my thoughts on collective consciousness.

Take your Dramamine, I made a video. Jess and I went to LA for the filming of Dark Prophecy with Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of CSI and Level 26. This is a mash up of our weekend.

Sorry for the quality, it’s the best you’re gonna get :)

Coming home from LA I am feeling a ton of creative energy built up inside me, but right now it’s just momentum, just static. I feel like it’s roiling and waiting to be released, but I haven’t had a chance to work on anything to let it out.

I want to draw, or paint, or even rip up some paper into pretty pieces, it’s all coming too quickly and I can’t organize my thoughts. I keep stopping myself. I have another trip to take this weekend, and I don’t want to make a mess. My husband is sick, and I don’t want to make noise while he rests. My son is hanging around and I don’t really want to get him involved. I wish I could have some alone time to just make a mess and do what I want.

I used to try to do Illustration Friday. The photo above was for the theme Moon, many moons ago. I need a kick in the ass to get me going again.

femaleprodigy:

Best picture I took from day 1 of our trip to Los Angeles.

I met Justine on Saturday on the set of Dark Prophecy where I was to play the part of a Tourist girl. I told her that this was one of my favorite posts she has done for WUaGR. It was very timely for me. Before her post I kept thinking “I wish this could have happened 10 years ago when I was not experiencing the side effects of early onset menopause and issues with my ovaries which have caused weight havoc on my body.” However, having heard Justine talk about how good things happen no matter what, and realizing that no matter what I deserved this and it was happening *now* and I could make it positive. I took it and decided to run with it. Who cares what I look like on film? I was in a movie!

One thing I will say. If I had never had this condition, I may never have adopted my son. I would never have known the joy of him. When I was thin I wasn’t as happy as I am now. I will lose this weight, but it will be on my terms and in my own time. I’m not doing it for any event, or any reason other than I want to do it for me. Everything else can go up in flames.

Thanks again Justine. Hope to see you again.

wakeupandgetreal:

WAKE UP AND GET REAL Episode19-Your Weight

Justine talks about your weight and how your favorite number on the scale doesn’t know how to get you what you want.