Is there anything I need to know when first starting out?

Eagle wrote in post #2268785
Read the manual.

Don't forget the stickies.

This black Friday (11/24) Staples will be selling the Sandisk Ultra II 2Gb CF card for $39.95 with no rebates! Not a bad price eh? here's the linky, http://bfads.net/pop/4​815

One thing I'm surprised nobody has mentioned here - despite all the good and helpful advice - is that if you're moving from a P&S to a DSLR you'll probably think the pictures look a bit flat and/or soft. This is deliberate - P&S cameras do a lot of processing to the image (colour saturation, sharpness etc.) whereas DSLRs are designed so that you can do that yourself. The upside is that you have more control over how the picture looks. The downside is that it can take time. But you can make your 350D do more or less of the P&S-type processing in-camera - see page 63 of the manual.

elise1030 wrote in post #2268595
Thanks everyone! I already knew before buying this I wanted a 50mm 2.8 so that's on the cards after Xmas. There's plenty of ducks around so I'll be sure to get a duck shot LOL. Right now the hubby has decided he really likes the camera and I haven't actually played with it yet.... is this trying to tell me something?

That you've got it made. Now you can go out and get the camera and lenses you really wanted, secure in the knowledge that he's hooked and won't object to your "most reasonable" expenditures. Of course, you may have to fight with him for use of the really good stuff.
:{)#

Ephemeral wrote in post #2270575
Don't forget the stickies.

Yes. And a highlighter!

Thank you for all the fantastic advice guys! I knew that DSLRs pics SOOC would look flat or not so hot because of the way they're designed. That's thanks to many hours of reading this forum that I was prepared for the need for photoshop!
So what do I need? A duck shot or a parrot shot? I could get both rather easily I imagine !
Why would I need stickies and a highlighter?

Read the stickies here; highlight the important spots in the manual.

elise1030 wrote in post #2272974
Thank you for all the fantastic advice guys! I knew that DSLRs pics SOOC would look flat or not so hot because of the way they're designed. That's thanks to many hours of reading this forum that I was prepared for the need for photoshop!
So what do I need? A duck shot or a parrot shot? I could get both rather easily I imagine !
Why would I need stickies and a highlighter?

Duck shot! Duck shot!

Jon wrote in post #2273385
Read the stickies here; highlight the important spots in the manual.

That is very important! Under no circumstances do you highlight your monitor and stick the manual!

My wife got me an XTi a week and a half ago and I was up WAY too late "familiarizing" myself with it. I was so excited about all the possibilities. Apparently so was my wife, but she expected me to be able to shoot our son's night football game with the kit lens, then shoot his choir concert. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I need a $800 lens to go with it (Sigma 70-200 f2.8).
Fortunately, Christmas is right around the corner so I've pretty much exclusively made a wishlist with camera accessories:
- extra CF cards
- extra battery
- camera bag (using video camera bag right now)
- tripod
- Adobe Elements
- a couple of books from Amazon that were recommended by POTN members
I also plan on joining a local "Shutterbug society" to speed up my learning process.

reading the forums and getting advice from the members here have been incredibly helpful and inspirational.
I have to admit that I've neglected to comply with a basic tenet of the members here: no duckie shot yet!!!