Candice LandauLast Updated on February 9, 2026 by Candice Landau
I have SO many things to share. I don’t even know where to begin. So, I’ll begin with something pretty: my new watermark design for my photos made by yours truly.
This photo features Ian Popple from Reef Smart Guides diving in Vanuatu. It was taken in October last month.
If you have worked with me from an editorial perspective, you’ll know I have not historically been the biggest fan of watermarks. It annoys me when photographers license their images to online outlets and then request their watermarks be left on (yes, I say this having worked for magazines). Those same photographers often sell their images on stock sites and when you buy them there you don’t have to keep the watermark. So, what gives?
It’s also REALLY easy to remove watermarks with all the AI options nowadays. And so, really, is there a point in them? For the most part you’ll notice that my site does not have them. This isn’t because I’m only sharing my worst photos, but rather because I don’t share 99.9% of my photos. Until recently, I hadn’t put a portfolio up, mostly because work has come to me courtesy of other sites and referrals. Plus, I’ve had all my magazine feature articles full to the brim with my photos serving as a gallery.
But, I am in the process of changing that. I have so many marvelous photos from all my travels around the world—photos that never made it into magazines for lack of space—that I think it’s high time to put those watermarks in place. Why you ask? Because it makes it just a tiny bit harder for people to rip the images and use them elsewhere.
The other thing to share at this point is that I will literally take any excuse to use Procreate to create my own graphics and illustrations these days. Which leads me to what will no doubt be my next post: my new stickers! I’ll be sharing those soon so stay tuned. In the meantime, ogle over the wonders of how easy our world makes it to make your own pretty graphics…
If you’re wondering how to do this yourself, it couldn’t be any easier:
- Step 1: Buy an iPad and download Procreate
- Step 2: Spend some time learning how to use it
- Step 3: Make your watermark
- Step 4: Export it
- Step 5: Open Adobe Lightroom, click “Export” on the photos you want it on
- Step 6: Upload your watermark and play with the placement/size settings
- Step 7: Download it!
Oh and yes I know this watermark is really bright and really large but I wanted to show it off. Adobe Lightroom makes it super easy to move it about and fiddle with its size and opacity. No doubt as I get better at using Procreate I’ll probably dabble a bit more with it.
Oh and just in case you are curious about what photos look like when they come out RAW using a fisheye lens before they get run through Lightroom…check it out.
