Tamara,

Until this post I had no idea you were photoshopping your pictures so much...well done! You've just proven that you don't need a boat load of equipment to make good images. One suggestion for you in your hunt for a DSLR--you owe it to yourself to take a look at the Nikon D50 & D70. Not so much better as just a bit different (I have a D70). There's a great reivew of both at KenRockwell.com .

-Sean

I am impressed by the way you dealt with the background in photoshop: it is a completely different photo. And yes, passing from a small digital camera to my dSLR completely changes my way of taking photos.

Sean, well, I don't usually photoshop them this much. :) I usually do a decent amount of noise reduction (not usually necessary for web-sized images, but necessary for the full-res size), but I don't think I've ever faked shallow depth of field before. However, now that I know I can do it, maybe you'll see more of it!

Thanks for suggesting the Nikon cameras. I'm (now) looking into them as well! I'm already familiar with Canon cameras, and I have multiple CF cards (the D50 doesn't take CF), and I even have two extra batteries that the 350D would take from a my Canon Powershot S30, so those things might convince me to stick with Canon. But I don't think I'll be buying a dSLR anytime soon (unless I get an unexpected windfall), so I have time to shop around...

Massimo, I know. Sigh. One day. :)

Chiaroscuro tells me I'm going to spend the first few months shooting with the aperture wide open. I suspect she's right.