Beautiful. How sharp they are. Thank you for sharing.
Keep them coming, please. I am on the brink of ordering one. Just wait for the moment my husband turns his back. :-)

Being a newbie,I especially appreciate your setting indications. I'll learn from you literally. Thanks much.

How exciting, looking forward to seeing more of your photos from this camera.

Great photos! ISO 800, those are really nice!

I think I see you in the first photo. :-)

That second shot is outstanding, love the bokeh. That is my dream camera!
JoanMN/FL

Thanks everyone!

piti,
That was my intension, to be seen.

Taken in auto mode

Aperture priority, f2.8, 1/21s, 800iso, flash

%100 crop of her eye

Those are the kind of photos I would like to take "when I grow up". :-)
Great photos. Super clear.

Which lens did you use for those photos?
What do you do when you choose accessories for your Canon?
Do you stick with the Canon products?

These are what I found on FotoConnection website:

Battery:
BP-511 Hi-Powered Lithium Rechargeable Battery f/Canon Professional Cameras/Camcorders
$118.40(Free Shipping)

2GB Elite Super eXtreme Speed 50MB Per Second Compact Flash Memory Card $186.00

These are what I found on Amazon:
Hitech - Rechargeable Battery for Canon EOS 40D SLR Digital Camera by Hitech
Buy new: $8.92

CF 4GB MEMORY CARD for Canon EOS-10D / EOS-1D / EOS-1D Mark II / EOS-1D Mark II N / EOS-1D Mark III / EOS-1Ds / EOS-1Ds Mark II / EOS-1N / EOS-20D Digital / EOS-300D / EOS-30D / EOS-350D / EOS-40D / EOS-5D / EOS-D30 / EOS-D60 / EOS-DCS 5 / EOS-DCS2000 / EOS-Digital Rebel / EOS-Digital Rebel XT / EOS-Digital Rebel Xti DIGITAL CAMERA - 4 GB
Other products by Dane/ Elec
Sale: $59.99

The prices are substantially lower on Amazon. What give? Do you get what you pay for?
Or does it make sense to use different products?
Sorry to bombard you with all these questions. I really am serious about getting a 40D, but would like to look at all the options for accessories.

The photos above were taken using the ef-s 60mm macro, no specific reason, it was on the 20D and I just switched over.

Whenever I buy anything I research the life out of it, then I purchase. No hesitation, just do it. I have 6 lenses, ef-s 60mm, ef 17-40 f4L, ef 28-70 f2.8L, ef85mm, 70-200 f4L IS, 180mm Macro. All Canon, tried one Sigma lens and didn't like the quality of the images so I took it back and the 17-40. Only other Canon accessory is the speedlite 420EX, the rest are 3rd party. I use Sandisk Extreme III 2gig CF, plenty fast for my shooting. Only do sporting events 2-3 times a year. Tripod and ballhead are Manfrotto, a generic graphite monopod, kenko extension tubes,a few B&W filters, sensorsweep cleaner and a generic high capacity spare battery.

I'm a "you get what you pay for" kinda guy, a lot say lens "X" is good enough but when you compare images side by side there's no comparison. When your as picky as I am about image quality I don't skimp on glass. I cut corners on not so critical things, but even then it come back to bite you on the butt.

Thank you for the explanation.
Is the battery that comes with the 40D rechargeable?
Which supplemental batteries do you use?
Will the kind I found at Amazon good?
"Hitech - Rechargeable Battery for Canon EOS 40D SLR Digital Camera by Hitech
Buy new: $8.92"
At FotoConnection, I found this for $79.00:
"http://www.fotoconnection.com/p57183-digital-concept-bp-511-hi-powered-lithium-rechargeable-battery-f-canon.html";
Maybe I'll stick with Canon.

Yes, the battery is rechargeable. I use Sunpack, the battery at Fotoconnection, it has a higher capacity than the one at amazon.

Glad to see you are enjoying your new camera, very nice close-ups. Wow, you have alot of lenses. For our Canon we have a Tamron macro lens, canon zoom lens and a wide angle lens, plus the lens that came with the camera. For my new Nikon I just have the lens that came with the camera so far.
Just out of curiosity, the orange cat, is it a female or male? Someone said orange cats are always male, but I see you said "her", when talking about the cat, just curious if this person was wrong in saying all orange are male.

Lenses, that's what I like about shooting SLR. Much more versatile, and they hold there value when it comes time to sell. I sold 70-200 f4 for $50 more than I paid for it. I'm contemplating on the ef-s 10-22, but not sure how much I'll actually use it.

I do a lot of photography for my son's band and I was thinking of keeping the 20D for wide angle(10-22 or 17-40) and 40 telephoto. It was pain to switch lenses at an event, I would always miss something during the change.

The vet has told us the same thing, but we have 2 orange and one unusual light tan female! I'll see if I can get them to cooperate for a photo.

Thanks. I truly enjoy your photos. Please post more.
I also appreciate your advice. That's it. I just placed an order for a Canon kit

I think I'll call Fotoconnection tomorrow to cancel the battery pack add on because I just found it a lot cheaper at Amazon:
Canon battery

CF is also cheaper at Amazon: SanDisk Extreme
I hope these are the right accessories for my "new" camera. :-)
Thanks again. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos & tips.

That's great piti! Glad I could help spend your money ;^)

A few from today

So beautiful.
What were the settings? Details, please.
You really are enjoying your new camera. What will you do with your old equipment?

"That's great piti! Glad I could help spend your money ;^)"
:-D My husband will hit the roof when he sees the bill. lol. I'll tell him this is my 30th anniversary present from him & a New Year present all in one. lol. I am using the rewarded money I got from my boss anyway. :-D

OK, I'll try an explain my thinking...

1.look at your environment and decide what you want to shoot.

Since it just finished raining thought take some macro of water on various plants, used the ef-s 60 due to it lightweight for hand held close-ups. Next I look at lighting, low clouds but not too dark so I didn't need to use a flash, I can use settings to manipulate lighting.

2.Determine camera settings to archive the look you want.

Take a few test shots at various white balance, shutter speeds, aperture, iso settings to get an idea how the end result will be. Used manual so I could adjust as light situations changed. Also change focus points depending on composition.

3.Take some photos

Lighting is everything, watch how the shadows effect the look your after. Direction of light source, your position and so on.

Doing this type of photography your able to take multiple shots at various angles to get the looks your after. The thing that I watch the most after camera settings is background objects and color. Find the subject, figure out your aperture/shutter speed, compose your shot, select focus point, check background. I don't want something behind the subject to draw your eye away from the focal point, aperture comes into play here. The bigger the f stop (smaller number) the more the bokeh( background out of focus) you achieve.

I took 100 photos to get the 9 that were most appealing, out of those there are 4 that are my faves.

f5.6, 1/50s, 800iso

f5.6, 1/50s, 800iso

Used ef 17-40 f4, settings f8, 1/100s, 800iso

The photos are very pretty. They all are. Thank you for sharing them as well as your knowledge.

This is the ultimate "hands-on" photography lesson. :-) Great stuff for a newbie like me. I have bookmarked this thread and a couple others where you posted comments as well. Many thanks. I may save them somewhere else too in case iVillage deletes them.

caudex1,
I just got off the phone with Fotoconnection and I am steamed. What an awful experience. After getting switched back and forth for 45 minutes between customer service reps and service manager/account manager 8 times, here's how it went:

1. I wanted to remove the add on battery pack.
2. I was told the battery pack that comes with the kit did not last long and customer service could not remove the add on until I talked to the manager.
3. After 35 minutes and several switches later, the account manager said the lenses offered in the package were plastic. If I wanted glass lenses, I would have to pay $1499.00 total. Then he offered the whole deal for $1379.00. On and on. I tried to understand what he was talking about and get clarification why this information was not clearly explained on the website. I thought the offer was pretty good, but hesitated because I found the website offer rather deceptive. It was like a hook and bait type of offer. The rep became quite pushy and said something derogatory about my being "Indian". I cancelled the whole order. I am sure I can get them much more expensive elsewhere, but he had no business making any remarks about my not being a "mainstream" American. I wish them luck with their future business.