Stock photography is making me into a real technical perfectionist! That’s good for the most part, since clients want images which have all the hallmarks of a great technical photo (lighting, composition, focus, low noise).

So, I was going through my 800 or so images from my last 10 days and deleting some images which were out of focus (usually in-camera but sometimes later on). I came across one image and I ALMOST deleted it, but I’m glad I didn’t:

Why I didn’t delete it

It was a tough shot and I missed the focus. Damn. I tried to re-shoot but then he was already at a different angle to the boats.

But, the good news is that this shot still makes for an interesting theme. The composition and theme are still strong and I remembered that perhaps this may make for an interesting book cover at Arcangel Images. The person isn’t clearly identifiable so no model release is needed.

I’ve since submitted and they’ve accepted, which means that the image has potential since they reject aprox. 60% of my submissions. Still waiting for my first sale on there but I feel it’s coming.

I’ve also submitted it to Fine Art America, a Print on Demand site where I currently have about 300 images, but still no sales.

So, the lesson here is not to be so anal when it comes to technical stuff and think about opportunities outside of Microstock for all your images. A slight blur won’t hurt your chances, in fact it may even look artistic (not that I purposely try to blur my images!).

Until next time.

Alex