About / Terms / Contact

About Me

I am a mechanical engineer by trade, but my engineering work and my photography are really two sides of the same underlying passion – my passion for the environment. Since I was a little kid, nature and the environment have been incredibly dear to me. From catching frogs to planting trees, canoeing the quiet rivers of Florida to hiking on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina, I was always trying to immerse myself in nature, and also to help it out however I could. This drove me to pursue mechanical engineering, where I concentrated in Energy Systems Analysis. Today, I study ways to improve the energy efficiency of our electricity usage and generation. But my love of nature also fuels my photography. More than anything, it simply drives me to go explore the environment. Wherever I am, I just want to go out and immerse myself in the local landscapes. But the scientist in me also has an urge to document what I see, and show it to others – hence the photography. That, at its heart, is my main goal for my photography: to document the beauty of nature that I witness, and to inspire in others a desire to witness the same beauty. If my photography turns another person into a nature conservationist, even just one, that is the biggest payoff I could ask for. That being said, I do charge for the use of my photographs. While my main goal for photography is to increase the love of nature in others, the monetary income does aid in my larger goal of helping the environment. The money not only helps me continue to photograph in unique locations, I also use it towards other non-profitable endeavors, such as making and distributing seedlings to help replant native trees in my local area. I also donate a large portion of my proceeds to The Nature Conservancy, which in my view is the preeminent charity for nature conservation. So please do not use any photograph on this website without purchasing it or asking for my permission.

Terms of Purchase

I try to keep my terms simple and very generous, to incentivize buyers to buy directly from me instead of from the larger stock websites. My current terms are as follows:
    Permitted Use:
  • You MAY: use the image unlimited times for personal digital purposes, such as phone or computer backgrounds.
  • You MAY: use the image unlimited times for online purposes, such as your website. But you may only display web-size images (up to 1500 pixels on longest side). You may not make the full high resolution image available to the public online.
  • You MAY: print the image at a small size unlimited times for promotional reasons, such as on a brochure or flier, as long as the photograph is not a dominant aspect of a physical item being purchased. For instance, use on a brochure which advertises an item is ok, but use on a book cover is not.
  • You MAY: print the image at a large size up to fifty times for promotional reasons, such as on a poster. The cutoff for large size promotional use vs small size promotional use is ten inches (10”).
  • You MAY: print the image at a large size unlimited times for personal art use. I do not recommend printing larger than thirty inches (30”) for the 3000 pixel files, or ten inches (10”) for the 1000 pixel files. You may not resell these art prints (or other types of item) for money. You may not upload the image to any “print on demand” style website (such as FineArtAmerica or Zazzle) in such a way that makes them available to the public. You may only upload them privately to order an item for yourself. You may give such an item away as a gift up to ten times for each image purchased.
  • You MAY: use the image in your own design, even if it is for resale, but only if your design heavily modifies the image. It must represent enough of a creative divergence from my photograph that it contains new elements which are themselves protectable under copyright.
    Forbidden Use:
  • You MAY NOT: resell the image in any manner, unless significant creative modifications have been made by you.
  • You MAY NOT: distribute the digital file to anyone else, unless it is required for the reason you bought the photograph (for instance, giving the image file to a printing company so they can print your fliers).
  • You MAY NOT: make the full high resolution files available to the public in any way. The largest resolution of the (unaltered) image you may make available to the public, such as online, is 1500 pixels on the longest side.
  • You MAY NOT: print the image as a dominant aspect of a physical item being purchased, for instance as a book cover. Please email me for the price of such a license.
  • You MAY NOT: print the image at a large size unlimited times for promotional reasons, such as a promotional poster or banner. For this purpose, “large size” is defined as greater than ten inches (10”). For this use, the limit is 50 times for each photograph purchased. For runs of more than 50 prints, please email me to discuss a custom license.
  • You MAY NOT: upload the image to any “print on demand” style website (for instance FineArtAmerica or Zazzle) in any way which makes it available to the public. You may only upload it privately to obtain an item for yourself.

Contact

Please feel free to send me an email. Whether it’s to ask about a license term, seek more detail about a photograph, or just to say hi, I love it when visitors reach out to me! Reach me at: Tilghman.Photos@gmail.com