The first things you will need is a good camera, a computer (which you have), Photo editing software, ideas and time.

Lets start with the camera. You’ll need a DSLR. We use NIKON D200 and D300. But you could start with an advanced point and shot such as PowerShot G9.

Next you’ll need a computer and photo editing software. As long as you have enough memory and ram to handle Photoshop CS4 you’ll be fine. Adobe Photoshop is really the bet most comprehensive software out there. We use only Apple computers. Honestly, we wouldn’t recommend any other computers, or software.

Now for the ideas, start out with the people around you who are will to stand in front of a camera and sign a model release. Each site has there own. When you sign up, just to make your life easier we suggest you go find the model release, download it and then get everyone in you family to sign one. Scan and upload them to the site. Get it out of the way. Most sites will hold your model releases, but on some sites you will have to upload them with the image each time you need them. Keep them safe and keep your originals.

But we’ve gotten off track, ideas…. ideas…… take pictures that you think advertisers might want to put in ad’s those you’ll have to come up with on your own. We try always to follow the K.I.S.S. principle

Time. We all need more of it. We started a few years ago selling on stock images and this year we are making a living doing it. Giving us more time to do what we love, making images.

A good place to start is Shutterstock

Vincent Giordano has always been interested in photography. As a child he loved his Polaroid camera. His serious pursuit of the image started out at 19 with a minolta X-700 SLR that he got as a wedding gift from his brother-in-law. He used the camera on a regular basis teaching himself photography. At 25 he was working as a warehouse manager and was a serious photo hobbist. He was injured on the job and found himself with a lot of time on his hands and a very small income. He decided to go to college.

He graduated from SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz NY with a BFA in Photography a few years later. And a short time after that he earned a MFA from Visual Studies from Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester NY. While in graduate school he worked part time in a Service Bureau. There he learned digital imaging. One of the highlights of his graduate program was learning lenticular imaging. He not only taught himself this but mastered it and used it in his graduate thesis.

After graduating he moved to the Capital region to settle down. Since moving here he has worked in the Marketing industry as a photographer and has shown his artwork in Galleries. He, his wife of 26 years, and their 9 year old son, live in Schenectady NY.