Tag Archives: United States

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Southern Silos Photography aka Spring Magnolia Photography aka WonderLust Photography aka Like a Phoenix Photography aka Courtney Christine Photography by Courtney Smith in Charlotte, NC

Website: https://www.southernsilosphotography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094430037666
Instagram (weddings): https://www.instagram.com/southernsilosphotography/
Instagram (boudoir): https://www.instagram.com/southernsilosphoto_boudoir/

When I start a post with so many AKAs known already you know it’s going to be a long one.

*nmp* is a new one to me for what I am assuming means “not my photos.” Even if it was widely known what nmp meant even spelling it out doesn’t matter – you can’t use photos to advertise your own work without permission from the copyright holder. Full stop.

There’s at least one post in a local group that was found with stolen wedding photos and no disclaimer about these not being her photos and I’m sure there’s more that I haven’t been sent (yet).

One thing I noticed when searching this photographer out is that she posts *everywhere* so check your local Facebook Groups to make sure she’s not in there. She’s based in North Carolina but I found posts in Pennsylvania, New York, Montana, Tulsa, Colorado, Tennessee, Salt Lake City, Pensacola, Chattanooga, Outer Banks, basically everywhere in the United States she’s in a local wedding group.

While the copyright infringement is the main story here, there is also a side story that Courtney allegedly has a history of not delivering photos/is slow to refund and is why she’s changed her business name in mid 2023 after conversations like this popped up in local groups. This story is at the bottom of the page with the update.

Update 1/29/2024:

It turns out the above was just the tip of the iceberg and there’s a lot of people out there who have had issues with Courtney.

In summary – she has allegedly canceled many times on clients at the last minute for boudoir sessions and weddings. She has allegedly sometimes sent in subpar photographers but sometimes she hasn’t sent in anyone at all. This girl allegedly gets covid a LOT. She allegedly rarely delivers albums. She allegedly owes a LOT of refunds.

She also posted this as an excuse before unpublishing her Facebook page.

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Continue reading Southern Silos Photography aka Spring Magnolia Photography aka WonderLust Photography aka Like a Phoenix Photography aka Courtney Christine Photography by Courtney Smith in Charlotte, NC →
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Carly Fowler in Richmond, VA

Website: https://carlyfowlerphotography.mypixieset.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlyfowlerphotography/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carlyfowlerphotography/
USession: https://book.usesession.com/i/GO1IwjbPT

I don’t know how many times I’ll have to scream this but for the love of pickles IF YOU DID NOT CAPTURE THAT IMAGE YOU CAN NOT USE IT FOR ADS, MOOD BOARDS, INSPO ETC. ON YOUR BUSINESS PAGE PROMOTING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY.

In searching this person out I also found SO MANY other photographers using some of these images. So… there may be a bonanza soon on this page.

I stopped sourcing because I have a meeting but I’m sure there’s more. I’ll dig in if needed later.

Updated 5:30EST:

Pinterest is for inspiration to be LEFT ON PINTEREST. It isn’t an image vault for you to use any image you find to plop on your Facebook/Instagram/USession page to advertise with.

I am amused she removed *most* of the Pinterest photos but still has one left I didn’t call out that I didn’t find the first go around. I added it below.

Update @ 6:30PM EST

Yo, Carly, sweet cheeks.

*I* made the blog post. Don’t come after the people you stole from.

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Brianna Cate Photography in Walla Walla, WA

Website: https://www.briannacatephotography.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Briannacatephotographyllc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briannacatephotographyllc

PS Facebook Page Discussion

I’ve had this person submitted to me many times over the years but it always seems to hit whenever I’m swamped with work or just don’t have the time to really dig into it.

via GIPHY

I have a boatload of submissions to work on and I guess we’re starting here.

Brianna sure likes her watermark. Shame it’s on photos she didn’t create but she sure acts like she did. They are mostly stock images but as you’ll see you’d never know it if reading her post about it. Most of these are also on her Instagram but I only showed the top one there.

You know how much I love fake stories and Brianna does too! Alexa + Eli huh?? The original photographer is Russian so I’m going to guess that they didn’t hail from Seattle…

Reminder if you’ve somehow missed it but I’ve now started a Substack and have been writing a bi-weekly newsletter about Photo Stealers, industry news and copyright stuff.

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Photo, Plagiarism

Heather Slattery Photography in Dayton, OH

Website: https://heatherslatteryphotography.mypixieset.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherslatteryphotography
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherslatteryphotography1
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heatherslatteryphotos

PS Facebook Page Discussion

Ugh.

This isn’t how I wanted to start off my Monday but here we are. Stolen images, stock images, plagiarism, “inspiration”… where my bingo card??

If you know of the source of any images I couldn’t find the original creator for let me know.

Also, in case you weren’t aware, I’ve started a substack! Each week I have one free post, one paid post talking about various things related to Photo Stealers, photography and beyond. Hit subscribe and share with anyone you’d think enjoy!

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Micah Cook Photos / Micah Cook Photography in Falls Church, VA 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@micahcookphotos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micahcookphotos/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MicahCookPhotos
Website: https://www.micahcookphotography.com/

PS Facebook Page Discussion

SIGH.

Apparently this has to be said.

YOU CANNOT SCRAPE PHOTOS FROM THE INTERNET AND PUT THEM ON YOUR TIKTOK AND USE IT TO PROMOTE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS!!!!!

Sometimes this “high end wedding photographer” says not my photos in the caption or video but not always and it’s usually below the “more'” link and buried with the hashtags. If you weren’t digging you’d likely assume that these images are his.

Very, very, very few of these TikToks have his photos BUT his Instagram POSTS do appear to be his own work (the reels are mostly reposted TikToks which have stolen images in them).

The vast majority of the images stolen he’s using to promote himself and say basically, “hey if this is your vision of a wedding hire me!” with various high end photos of weddings from around the world. According to this video, this method seems to have worked…

I finally gave up because it was overwhelming how many stolen images he’s using on his TikTok to promote his business but below you’ll get a sample of how many images he’s used that aren’t his while saying “if any of these fit your preferences… I’m taking on 10 more weddings for the 2024 year”

Updated 7/27/2023:

  • Added links to more platforms he’s on, turns out I missed his reels on Instagram that had images from other vendors.
  • Updated his location to Falls Church, VA but he may also be in Raleigh? I’m not quite sure of his location.
  • Micah took down/TikTok removed some videos but there are still plenty with more photos so I dug in more.
  • He REALLY likes Jose Villa’s work apparently since he’s used his images a LOT (which, duh, he’s amazing but damn dude, really?)
Continue reading Micah Cook Photos / Micah Cook Photography in Falls Church, VA  →