I've been shooting stock video and images for some years now. Am fairly decent at shooting and post processing. I've been considering joining a course to get better at it and boost my sales. Any suggestions on which ones are worth taking. I've shortlisted the following till now

1. Breakfast stock club's course
2. Basics of stock photography ebook

I've written about food photography courses in the past. Might be worth checking those out:

https://www.backyardsilver.com/2015/03/serious-eats-guide-to-food-photography/

Steve

Hey Steve, have been following your blog for quite some time. Especially love how openly you discuss earnings and sales. Will go through this as well

Co wrote 3 best selling Books on Microstock That are no Longer avaliable. Long before others and been around the country doing lectures on Commercial photography for Years....  I do one on one classes in Beverly Hills, Calif.Since 2006. 512 people have flown In from around the world to learn studio Photography, Shooting models of your choice from over 20 different Top models. These are very intense 3 Day classes, 2 days of shooting and One full day of retouching tips and tricks and secrets.
These classes also contain tips on how to monetize what you do . Doing stock Nowdays is a very small Part of making Money with a camera and...Getting smaller every day.
These Classes are very intense, There is a Lot of Homework before you come and I do Not accept just anyone as I must see your work to be accepted.. you Must want this. It is very In depth, Learning How to storyboard,Posing,makeup,assistants and Most Important Lighting. Indoor and outdoor In my beautiful Studio. You choose the Models to shoot from Glamour to Hard Hitting emotion.
This is work Guys and I don't suffer fools, You have to want this.

Doing Micro for 13 years and Pro stock when we actually made a Living Predigital since 1968. I have 35 year international Clients to die for.
PM me with questions.Lodging available. or write me at [email protected]
mention MSG forums Pls.

There are a few on Udemy - one of which is more of a free intro to an off-site course.

https://www.udemy.com/how-to-make-money-selling-stock-footage/

https://www.udemy.com/stockfootage2/

Great - would be interested to know what you think of them.

Thats essentially why i asked. I've been learning through a ton of photography courses on youtube and others but can't seem to find stuff on stock.

Do shaare if someone is posting good stuff. The best ones I've found are backyardsilver and hunterbliss

@increasingdifficulty, there are some diferences though. There is a long thread here in forum about what is the best format to upload (h265, prores, photojpeg) and pros and cons of each format. And other talking what sw to edit (some people indicating AE, some people PR, some people MPEG Streamclip, basically beacause you wouldn�t need a timeline for editing short clips for stock.
So: there are some details specific to stock.
But in general I agree with you: most succesfull stock photographers won�t create this course. But it could make them some money. I am sure Steve Heap has had a good return from his books (I�ve bought it, I can tell you that).

@izzikiorage There is also another blog from Alexandre Rothenberg that�s also useful:
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/

Quote from: izzikiorage on April 08, 2018, 03:51

Thats essentially why i asked. I've been learning through a ton of photography courses on youtube and others but can't seem to find stuff on stock.

Do shaare if someone is posting good stuff. The best ones I've found are backyardsilver and hunterbliss

Well, what do you expect to be so different from "regular" photography? Aside from sometimes looking for conceptual ideas instead of just a pretty picture, it should mostly be the same.

Filming an establishing shot for a movie is the same as filming it for stock. Filming nature and wildlife for a nature documentary is the same as filming it for stock.

No successful (still active) stock professional in their right mind is going to make such a course, so you're left with the amateurs and people who don't really make enough money doing stock in the first place.

Usually the more photo oriented tutorials are heavy on getting the art right, spending time in photoshop, getting the look right with almost no regard to things like workflow optimization and technical quality that stock needs.

I understand that not everyone will make this, so out of the few that have was looking for the good ones.


@jpbarcelos the blog looks good, let me check it out today

@Brasilnut,
No worries.
I have your book too.