I live in Colorado. Would need to know some criteria of what is wanted but I bet we could put something together.

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"A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialized set of tasks and to complete them for a fee."

With that, I have been a professional since 1968. The Navy taught me, I opened a portrait studio in 1972. I am small town so my clients become friends. Not rich, digital has made it a struggle compared to the film days. But then who can say they have spent their life making a living doing what they love. It's been a dance. Annie Girl, you need a mentor, I'm here for you, not saying I know it all. For those starting out and need the money, don't quit your day job. When I got out of Navy I started it as a part time until it was making more than my full time, then I went full time.

Thanks everyone. This all helped. I have one of those pop out fabric disc with white/bullseye on one side and grey on the other and was having trouble with even that focusing on the crosshairs on the material. My 5D works great on it. The videos site really helped. 45 years of professional photography and still learning.

It won't focus most of the time when I'm in the studio testing, no shots taken, focusing on background & it won't fire. I don't know if it's the background, low light, low contrast, ?, I point it at background light and it fires. When my subject is there, it fires. Have had it do it in critical situations, usually low light.?? Almost like it needs good contrast to focus on or I don't have a setting correct. Any help.

It won't focus most of the time when I'm in the studio testing, no shots taken, focusing on background & it won't fire. I don't know if it's the background, low light, ?, I point it at background light and it fires. When my subject is there, it fires. Have had it do it in critical situations, usually low light.?? Almost like it needs good contrast to focus on or I don't have a setting correct.

Love my 7D but sometimes it won't fire because it won't focus, any tips?

Mel - As a Navy Photographer, we used Ektachrome because we could develope our own slides. We would underexpose it by about a 1/2 of an f/stop and get great looking yellows,reds and flesh tones, which Kodachrome was famous for. For up close detail, film wins hands down.

Michael 'O - Totally agree. I went to a show on ice with my grandchildren and was refused entry with my first ever digital camera (20D) yet they were letting point'n shoots in, asked why, they said my was a professional camera. lol. Later I researched it and found the Canon G9 had all the settings of a 20D, 10megapixel & shoots raw. I have even put my 580EX flash on it (& it's bigger than the camera,lol). Of course it doesn't have a glass lens, but I could literally shoot a wedding with it, if it wouldn't make me look unprofessional. (I take it as my backed up backup.) I have never been refused entry since and have gotten some great pix. Now days, if you know the basics of how photography works, you can make what you have work to the best of it's ability. Digital is a compromise that we have been dealt, now we have to deal with it. And having fun doing it. When an amatuer comes up to me while I'm working and starts asking questions of how I do what I do, I just look at them, smile and say "Years of practice and the knowledge of Photography" and I don't get any more questions. Gotta love what we do.

Film versus digital? Quality, resolution, sharpness, forgiving, etc, etc. Been professional since 1968. Film wins hands down when you blow that baby up to 30 x 40 or larger, IF, and that is a big IF, IF it was exposed correctly. Digital is no different. IF you get it right in the camera with either, your quality will be there. Film: over process, under process, boost up/under exposure in print, dodge, burn. Digital: post process. Either way you are compromising the image or print. Learn what an f/stop, shutter speed, ISO(ASA) and how each one affects the other and get it right in the camera. I'm teaching an assistant that knew nothing but digital with no photography background other than have her own small photography business. After 6 months her comment was, "I had no idea there was so much to photography!" I switched to digital in '04 seeing the writing on the wall, my 2 professional labs quite doing film in '06. As a professional studio photographer, my choice today, with circumstances as they are, would be digital. Really there is no choice other than a business choice. If our only choice was film, I would, in a town of 15,000 people, have 2 photographers competing for business instead of 35 plus. But, suck it up, deal with it, survive or get out of the way. Put 2 identical prints of 30 x 40 in front of me, one taken with digital and digital processed and one taken with film and chemically processed and I'll pick out and take the film one, hands down. But, the technology hand has been dealt, now I have to make it work. It's a challenge that has been a fun one, other than all the competition.

Amen to that. lol.

Unfortunatly there is no neg or digital file. This is all I have to work with.

A friend brought me a 4x6 color print that looks sharp. I scanned it and the scan looks sharp but they want a 20x24 of it and had taken it to Wal-Mart and she said it was not recognizable, just blobs of the image. When I blow it up on my monitor the edges are not sharp but very recognizable. What is the best way to sharpen, enhance the color, give it that HD quality? Is there a place I can send it? I have a good tiff scan. I am not photoshop savy.

I don't think I saw it mentioned in the posts but use a high f/stop (f/16 or higher) so it's sharp all the way to the edges. If you don't have proper studio lighting then I have done many copies outside. If the sun is to harsh then use shade. Shade pretty much solves all of the problems. Early morning or later evening will get the sun directly at the painting but not to early or late or you will get a reddish lighting. Be sure and keep your camera straight up and down and across the plain of the copy (very important). Tripod and levels do the trick there. It's a fun challenge.

I use Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex. I buy 2 and keep everything double saved and keep everything on them. They are to cheap not to have 2. When I want to work on a file I bring it to my laptop and work on it then send it back to both when done. I keep nothing but programs on my laptop. Having two is peace of mind that when one of them crashes I have a back up.

If you come up with it, I would certainly like to know about it as I am in exactly the same boat.

If you stay with PC then Best Buy has refurbished laptops. I have one and it works great. Can get them for around $500. Look for 17.5 screen, i5 or better, 6-8 gigs of ram and some will have the dedicated graphics in them also. I have found that if I ask for a gamers lap top, they work great for photography.