I’m extremely interested in getting into Digital Photography. I live in a sort of small town and I don’t really know how to get started. I have a Nikon L100 and I love that camera! I would love to possibly start my own portrait studio or something like that. But how could I get started and get myself promoted around town? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank You.

One way is get some of your friends and take portraits of them and use the best picture on a flier and as bussiness to put it in there store and have bussiness cards also. Make sure you know how to do good portriats. A few bad pictures can hurt your start up. Also go to your church and do there church direcory and do it for free to the church. help chairitys out and for free things for them and you will be seen doing it and that can get your name out there. put a ad in the newspaper, just do what you need to to let people know you are out there and you are good they will find you. Get in the yellow pages also.

So, I want to learn photography.
But I dont know where to start.
Like, cameras.
Tools.
Tricks.
And stuff.
What photography exactly is.
I just know I want to take pictures to express how I feel.
Nature/objects/people.
And stuff.
So.
Whats a good camera? Not too expensive, good brands.
Where do i start?

First of all, you want to start out with an SLR (Single Lens Rflex [film]) or DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera, something for starters. I highly recomend you use an SLR camera because you will be forced (due to the expenses of buying the lens and the development, and the fact that you can’t look at the photo right after you take it) to evaluate your scene and your subject, which is a key importance in photography.

Anyway, after you get your camera of choice you should start researching the compositions of photography (like: lighting, angel, rule of thirds or golden rule, depth of field, leading lines, and so on). Once you get an understanding of these composition (you can research composition on google.com, there are many good sights), then you should go out and practice to further your development and understanding of these compositions (using an SLR will help jumpstart your development and understanding).

Once you get the basics down then you can move on to the more fun stuff. You can then start working on developing your creativity (though it helps to start at the beginning only staying with in the confinds of the composition rules; once you get into the more advance stage you can start breaking the rules and coming up with very creative photos) and your style (a style that is unique to you, something like when someone sees your photos they know you took them because of your style).

If you want to be great photographer you need to persevere and work hard to gain success, once, if, you become a professional your research doesn’t stop there. You will always be researching to further your development your photographic skills. I’ve been doing photography for 4 year now and I still find myself researching different techniques, styles and different ways to shoot a photo, I spend sometimes an hour, 2 hours or even 12 hours on a daily basis trying to search an answer to my question (the same will happen to you if you really want to be great).

Photography is a gift and also a talent that one has, the greatest photographers are very passionate about their style like landscape/nature, portraits, and so on. That is what helps us to strive hard to get to where we want. I hope the same happens to you because it is a very rewarding process to see your hardwork in galleries, newspapers, magazines, or even in museums.

But first, you need to learn the basics and work your way from there. Good luck, I hope you do well.

Here is a link to my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26285083@N03/

So i just got a Nikon Coolpix L110 and i really want to know how to do shutter photography.
Also, my hd movies aren’t compatible with Windows movie maker…
Any additional photography tricks and techniques would be much appreciated! thanks!!

I have no idea what you mean by shutter photography.
If your movies aren’t compatible, use a converter program to convert it (Google is your friend here).
Tricks and techniques:

Learn about your camera !!!!

Read your manual !!!! Read it several times, and practice in between. If you don’t have a book, download from the manufacturer’s website.

Attend a class, read some books, read/watch online tutorials.

The major camera manufacturers (like Canon, Nikon, Olympus etc) all have very useful sections on their website for learning about photography.

http://www1.nikonusa.com/slrlearningcenter/index.php

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/oima_learn_center.asp

http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=HomePageAct

http://www.webphotoschool.com/all_lessons/free_lessons/index.html

Understanding at least the basic principles of photography (as well as being familiar with your camera) will enable you to make the most of your gear, and will make a HUGE difference to your images.

I was thinking on these cameras
- Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-Camera-18-55mm-3-5-5-6/dp/B0012YA85A/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I13SUKAJK3U8HS&colid=SC5FYNJJT4RI

or
- Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP CMOS APS-C Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Canon-T2i-Digital-3-0-Inch-18-55mm/dp/B0035FZJHQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1SWC1LR6XR2LW&colid=SC5FYNJJT4RI

but which lens should I also buy with one of those cams?

What other equipment is the bare minimum for portrait photography, basic lighting kit right? what else?

I have the T2i and like it alot. But you’re going to need a better lens.

You can use a macro lens for portraits. For about $500 you can get the non-IS 100MM macro lens. It’s about half the price of the IS version.

As for lights, check into "The Strobist" website. There’s tons to learn about taking pics with flash. I would recomend taking pics for a year before you add flash.

One technique Art Wolfe uses is taking pics of people in doorways. That way the background is dark and they are well lit.

Those are my thoughts. Hope they help.

Julia