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I almost threw this to the Recycle Bin

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with FND Photography / M2 Real Estate Solutions

Although I have been an amateur photographer for over 15 years, i have never thought about making money from it.  Few years ago, I got into stock photography, which is the opposite end of artistic photography. 

Although it was a struggle in the beginning, I was able to make it a nice hobby that pays for my new cameras and accessories, as well as enough to put aside for a nicer retirement.  It is nice to collect royalties long after the image is taken and processed.

But this image (below) was one of the glorious moments of my photography in the past few years  :)

I took this image with a black background and after looking at it at 100% resolution (it was taken at 6Mp at the time), I realized that my finger and my hand (which is the whole object in the picture) is blurry.  My first thought was "OH MY GOD, there goes a good idea), and shortly after I deleted the image.

ACCESS GRANTED Few minutes later I decided to retrieve it from my recycle bin, and decided to invert the colors.  I realized that my hand looks much better in blue than its original color  :)

Then an idea strike me.  If the hand is in focus, something else can be in focus.  I quickly draw a box around the finger and typed "ACCESS GRANTED" as if I meant to have my hand blurry, where the focus is in the text.

I had a concept picture that i never thought about while I was taking the picture.  And in the stock world, the concept sells better, much better, than nature images.

The bottomline is that, this image is my highest selling image and I collected hundreds of dollars on this image. 

The funniest part, is that I pulled this image from my Trash Can   :)  I guess, my creativity paid off, when i turned my trash into my own gold. 

Contrary to the common beleif of One Man's Trash is another Man's Treasure, this is my trash and my treasure  :)

Let me know if you have something similar

Met Dilsiz
http://www.fnd.net/

Dawn Shaffer Life is good!
Battle Ground, WA

I love it that you can make money from a hobby.. wonderful!

Sep 26, 2007 12:07 PM
Susan Buchanan
harvey & associates realty - Taos, NM
I considered stock photography since I bought some for my website.  Just don't feel like I know enough to make money at it!
Sep 26, 2007 12:13 PM
Mehmet Met Dilsiz
FND Photography / M2 Real Estate Solutions - Midvale, UT

Susan,

there were many people who didn't know about it, but it is just about consistency and you can make it...

Email me with your questions and I'll be more than happy to help you.

Sep 26, 2007 12:24 PM
Maureen Maureen
Orangeburg, NY
Mehmet - what a great story.  I love the image, the blue looks great.  Your post has been featured in the Photography group.  We are always looking for great pictures, tips and information.  
Sep 26, 2007 12:37 PM
Mehmet Met Dilsiz
FND Photography / M2 Real Estate Solutions - Midvale, UT

Hi Maureen,  thank you for your kind words...   I'll try to do more as much as I can  :)

Sep 26, 2007 02:24 PM
Ryan Martin
Pacific Continental Realty, LLC - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham Commercial RE Broker
Met - Where do you sell your stock photos? I have a decent amount of photos that I wouldn't mind to part with.
Oct 24, 2007 12:23 PM
Meg Stewart
Reliable Appraisal - Frisco, TX
Appraiser-Frisco, Texas

We all should love what we do..... and of course make a living at it!

 

-Meg

Oct 24, 2007 01:37 PM
Alamo City Homes Magazine
Alamo City Homes Magazine - San Antonio, TX
I think I'm going to try and get into stock photography as well.. There's this nice view of a texas flag behind my office that I'm going to post on the sites..
Oct 24, 2007 01:39 PM
Mehmet Met Dilsiz
FND Photography / M2 Real Estate Solutions - Midvale, UT

RYAN:  You dont' necessarily part with your photos  :)  that's the beauty.  You will be collecting royalties, while sharing your photo to be used, but you still get to own them  :)

MEG:  This is the part I love.   I'm not at a point where I can make a living from stock photography but it is a nice chunk of money that supports many hobbies  :)

ERIC:  You should definitely try it.  It's absolutely great.  

Oct 24, 2007 01:59 PM