Hey guys... Well I couldn't resist jumping into this subject as it's near and dear to my heart. As an aspiring photographer who's spent LOTS of hours taking photos AND working on them in photoshop...I'm none to fussy about people taking them in any shape form or fashion for their own use (although I would find it flattering if they used them on the desktop of their computer :-)) ). I was told (and looked into it) that all these sites like photobucket, photo.net, facebook, google blogs etc. all have within their terms of use that if you post photos to their website, you do still own them BUT they can use them as they see fit i.e. you are in essence giving them permission to use them if you post them to their website (it's their server, not yours). Sure enough when I read the fine print that is what I found out. So my question is, what supersedes what? Does that agreement void any copyright stuff? I should hope not. Because of that, I'm leery about posting my photos anywhere on the net (although I have a few up on different sites). Someone had mentioned earlier in this thread that some people would be able to find a way to doctor the photos to take the watermark out. As an avid photoshop user and one who used to process a LOT of pictures for signage at a garden center I used to work at, I had first hand experience such that I can tell you a watermark spread right across a picture cannot be "photoshopped" out that readily. For instance: I'd like to see if anyone could photoshop that watermark out. If they could, I'd like to see it. I doubt they could with any ease. So because of that, I'd post this photo on the net safe in the assumption that no one could take it and claim it as their own or try to doctor it up to make it look like their own. Yes, they could still steal the picture but to post it somewhere else, anyone who saw it would most likely know that they stole the picture from another site etc. The only true way to do this and be better protected would be to (like jodik says) get a legal copyright or post the pics on your own website which no one could use for any reason (i.e. as readily as photobucket and other sites where you post pics to). So I'm considering doing to the rest of my pictures that I've done to this one...i.e. slapping the watermark over enough of the picture that it would not make it easy for someone to doctor the picture and use it/claim it as their own. Dan (bluebonsai) is right in regards to what he mentions above however, that doesn't seem to stop people from taking the pictures though. Okay guys...sorry for rambling on like this...but I felt compelled to jump in. When I have time off coming up here in January I am going to go through a bunch of pics I've taken and get some of them up on here for you guys to see. Cheers, Gerard.

I make my own ant traps out of the bottom of 20 oz. soda bottles (I first used caps from aerosol cans, but I thought they looked a bit tacky) so, I just cut the clear bottles off and heat a piece of coat hanger heated with a candle and push it thru the center and then seal it with silicone glue. I bend the hanger to fit whatever I'm going to hang it from and bend the other end for the feeder. Haven't had ants at all this year...just bees and little bitty black fly like bugs getting into the bottles and drowning! If it works, you can see most of it in this picture from last year. glo Here is a link that might be useful:

IYou registered the day you posted this? I'm hoping you don't have any affiliation w/ that company. And I have to say, I think that's a weird wedding-gift idea from an aunt. I have this bias that wedding gifts should be tangible things, or long-lasting in some way. A permanent memento if possible--and NOT a logistical help just for the wedding planning. Contributing to the honeymoon lets the couple create lasting memories of the trip. Offering to contribute to some wedding expense (flowers, etc.) is nice, but if i were doing that, I'd STILL be giving them something tangible--less expensive, but still longer lasting than an immediate expense. I would never give, as my official wedding present, some logistical assistance without first being sure it was really important to the bride & groom (like paying for the photographer would be; frankly, web sites are a luxury)

Thank you so much, cp artist for the mock ups! and lukkiirish for the pics. That helps a lot to visualize. I like green, but the bright lime green is too strong for my bland taste and I'm not sure I'd be brave enough (I also have two very prominent lime green plants right at the bottom of the deck). I think a compromise might be a pea-soupy kind of green that sort of blends the gold and lime green. I like the orange too, but the deck is cedar and I'm planning on refinishing it and oiling it this summer and that should give it quite an orangey look - definitely thinking green would go best with that. Thanks again everyone for the help and nice comments on the house.