New Beginnings Can Surprise You

So...I just sold my first stock photo last night. Two weeks ago, I decided to become a contributor to the well-known stock photography site, Shutterstock, in order to make some passive income. You know? Upload some pictures here and there and then watch the money *slowly* roll in. And when I say "slowly," I mean it. BUT, I'm happy to say within the first 10 days, I made a sale!

What was this infamous photo? A turquoise door in an alleyway. Yep. That's right. Something that simple made my first stock photo sale.

Why did I take this photo? I was actually on a photoshoot with a client and found this really cool alleyway with a nice pop of color. I took this photo to test my lighting. At the time, the thought of this image being sold as a stock photo NEVER crossed my mind. 

Moral of the story? There are a lot of options, but I think this is the best one: Don't underestimate yourself. Yeah, that's it. Like I said, I didn't think about selling this photo while I was taking it. Even afterward, I just thought, "I really like how that turned out. I'll keep in case I ever need it for a design or some artwork." On a whim, I uploaded it to Shutterstock. Even if it's just a picture of a turquoise door that I took while testing out my lighting, I thought I'd give it a chance. Same goes for you. If you ever think, "I'm just one person...there's no way someone would think I'm interesting enough to listen to," then think again. Don't sell yourself short, because somewhere out there, someone is looking for exactly what you're able to give. In my case, that someone was from Vancouver and I was able to give them an alleyway with a turquoise door.