Hi All,

I am just getting started into stock photography and I got a lot of questions.  Can anyone help?

1. I am thinking of getting a DSLR... what do you all think about the various Canon Digital Rebel models?  Are they a pretty good?

2. If I shoot in Raw, is Adobe Light Room adequate for most processing (batch adjusting levels, white balance and other stuff) or do I need more elaborate software such as Photoshop for this?

BTW, Adobe Photoshop is very, very expensive... would Adobe Photoshop Elements do an adequate job when it comes to occasionally removing brand names, logos, telephone poles, etc and getting rid of any purple fringing?

Also is there any other photo editing software packages that would also do these things?  Is Corel Paintshop Pro any good?  Are there any other programs you would recommend?


3. Can you edit photos when they are .tifs or just when they are in raw format?

4. What sort of monitor calibration hardware/software should I use?  How often do you need to calibrate a monitor? Also can the hardware that hangs over the screen scratch or damage the monitor in any way?

Thanks,

Duane