While the global stock photography market is saturated with images, the demand for fresh, authentic, useful stock content is still high. One of the most attractive aspects of producing stock photos is that it can range from a steady side income to a full time career based on your level of skill, energy, and commitment to creating content that is in demand. Well-executed stock content has the potential for creating a residual income stream for years to come.

For almost a decade Rob Sylvan worked behind the scenes at iStockphoto, the most heavily trafficked stock photography site in the world. Rob came to stock photography as an image consumer turned creator of stock images. In 2002 Rob was hired as one of six image inspectors charged with approving and rejecting all the new content submitted to iStockphoto. During his time at iStockphoto the collection grew from less than 30,000 files to over 9,000,000. In 2010 Rob distilled his experiences from all sides of the stock photography equation into "Taking Stock" (http://amzn.to/sRQLTC) which quickly became the most practical guide for anyone interested in creating photos to be licensed for stock. This 6 week class is a hands-on companion workshop to the book that will give you a solid foundation for entering the world of stock photography on the right foot with a collection of work that is ready for submission to stock agencies. Each week will include hands-on assignments, individual research, frank discussion, and personalized critique.

All students in this class will receive a free copy of Rob's book! In addition to that, PPSOP has had a long relationship with Corbis, one of the largest stock agencies in the world. Student work from this class will be reviewed by our in house editor and passed on to submitted to Corbis. We have several PPSOP students that get royalty checks every month from work shot during their time in class.

Course Outline:

• What is stock photography?
• History of the stock industry
• What's in it for you?
• Understanding the licensing models
• Who uses stock photography?
• How to think like a stock photo consumer

• Choosing your gear wisely
• Raw vs JPG
• Understanding model and property releases
• The fine line between inspiration and copying
• Finding your sweet spot
• Planning a shoot

• Creating a digital darkroom
• Establishing an efficient post-processing workflow
• Avoiding rejection

• How to be your toughest critic
• Developing a submission workflow
• Dealing with rejection
• Establishing a name for yourself
• Finding your photos in use

• Putting it all into practice with the completion of stock assignments across various genres followed by tough-love critiques from your instructor and peers, with the goal of producing a body of work that you can start submitting to stock agencies right away.

Course Requirement:

A DSLR, and a basic working knowledge of your camera, the exposure triangle, and post-processing software.