You can do this two ways round. Maybe by taking images and thinking "I'll be able to use that" without yet knowing on what and how.

And the other way is to say "I want to create this image that makes this statement" and then going out to shoot the individual components.

Creativity can come from both processes and it takes practice and technical skill, but also some sense of vision from whence comes the creativity. This is ephemeral and I think it can be developed, but if the spark isn't there it won't happen. It also won't happen if we are stressed, hurried, thinking of other things...

Perhaps the start is learning to see

Not everyone is or wants to be a computer expert, so for most a Windows PC is the only sensible choice. It makes things easy for the user.

There are alternatives that are better in some respects, but they don't have that easy compatibility with almost everything that's available.

At the moment XP is the more stable option, but for many they will have no option but to accept pre-loaded Vista.

If you want to avoid totally confusing yourself, I would stick with the Industry Standard, which is Photoshop.

Elements will do everything most amateurs will ever need.

If you can find or afford the full versions then everything from Photoshop 7 onwards will be fine. 7 has been followed by CS, CS2 and now CS3 but these are expensive and you don't need them.

My advice: Buy Elements, buy a book describing how to use it, and lots of magazines with CDs so that you can work through their tutorials. Perhaps join a Camera Club or take a course if you want to go further.

The basic skills needed though to use your pictures effectively and make the necessary adjustments are not overly complex, but they do need explaining.

You will probably get lots of contradictory advice - keep it simple at first and get a good grounding.

Take them all....eventually you'll get a nice "photographer's list", to port or starboard depending on which shoulder the camera bag is.

Glad to hear you're enjoying your new lens. The 24-90mm is nice indeed.

I still use mine on my film cameras, when I use my film cameras that is!

Please, please only post in one place, as we've asked before.

When we've all had a chance to assimilate this new location I'll see about deleting the other one.

Hi Larry and welcome.

The DSLRs need an electronic cable release that is obtainable through your dealer.

The Power Zoom feature is not supported by your camera so is defunct. You can use manual zooming in the usual way. The seitch you mention might have something to do with the power zoom auto size tracking feature. I'm not sure about that one.

In any event, use it as a normal manual zoom and you should be fine. AF should work in the usual way.

That explains it. The lens you are using is not at its best wide open, so sharpness and contrast will suffer. DOF will be very small, hence my previous comment. At 1/20 sec the slightest shake will spoil the sharpness as well, not only camera shake but also movement of the model.

With studio flash you would have achieved an exposure of maybe f8 or even f11 and the shutter speed would have been the speed of the flash, so no movement there.

This leads me to think though that the light was also quite low, so if you are using available light in this way it might be better on a brighter day.

You can see the difference more "bite" gives in the other shots that have been posted, not just mine, so keep working at it and you'll get there.

If you have access to a Camera Club maybe they do portrait sessions for beginners. We do at ADAPS all the time and those nights are very, very popular. They are aimed at beginners and more experienced members help to guide people as needed.

It's getting better. I think the next session can build on this very well. Try to get as much as possible right at the taking stage and that will serve you well.

I'm struck that there is very little depth of field in your shots. Using flash does have the benefit of enabling use of smaller apertures, although in general I prefer natural light where possible.

What aperture and shutter speed were you using?

George has the point exactly.

You have to get the technical aspects right to be able to express the emotional content in the way you see it.

Practice is the key.