a few words

I am going to say a few words because I feel as if it's needed. I have officially received so many emails asking me for more information that I am not able to continue to respond to them individually, so I'll do it here.

Let me start by saying that I'm really sad that, at least in my own country, we seem to live in a culture dominated by fear. It is not how I choose to live my life, nor how I would like to raise my children, and I never intended to contribute to it. I think that every family has to make decisions about what feels appropriate for them. I don't have an easy answer for anyone. There are many "experts" who have researched the safety of children and the internet; I am not one of them. If I had any information that I felt would be helpful to other parents, I would pass it on. I found out about the use of my photos because a reader alerted me to it. Making this change is just what feels right for our family at this time.

This was a copyright issue as well, and I do want to point that out. I think one thing we can do as a community is to never take or use a photo without the photographer's explicit permission. It is very simple to link back to images in their original context. To protect your images, you may choose to add a watermark. Green Kitchen posted a tutorial on how to create a watermark a while back. I don't add watermarks to my photos for aesthetic reasons (I don't put tags on my softies either), but I have thought about it.

Finally, thank you so much to everyone for all the support and kind wishes as I attempted to shift gears; I appreciate it so very much. You all have moved me to tears many a time this week. Thank you!