The Mad Kiwi

My vote too, the Sigma 20mm Art. Wide and fast should be fantastic on the T3i

I agree definitely sell the long zooms and the 55-250 sum and buy one of the sigma 150-600mm lenses that'll give you the reach for animals.

That's a great post, everyone needs to chill and stop picking at the edges. It's certainly helpful to a beginner. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

Unless you're going to be selling the images buy a GoPro, small and light and waterproof plus they do great video. Get a Joby Gorillapod tripod as well, or a Chinese knock off. Buy a big arsed ...

Of course you need another lens, we all need another lens.

I'd get another body before I bought a new lens. If you've got 2 bodies get the 35, you could do with something fast.

I'm going to say the Sigma 35mm as well.

Buy strobes, continuous lights suck for still camera work, the more powerful the better. If they're going to be used indoors buy studio strobes for the extra power otherwise if you want to use ...

Don't trust the camera screen, just check the histogram and make sure you're not clipping the image. Then just the levels in whatever software in post. As long as the levels aren't clipped in ...

Use focus stacking software, I use heliconFocus, glues the resulting images together easily.

For landscape you'd want to be somewhere near 10mm for a crop or 16 for full frame. I like multiple bodies, myself, just easier to pick up a camera with the right lens on it already. Let's you work ...

That thing was always a light hog anyway.

I'd just mask or clip 'em in photoshop rather than use a background

Doubt it, it'll be the light.

I'd have white balanced off the white buttons.

Buy a Black Rapid strap I'd get the http://www.blackrapid.com/products/metro , a good strap is the best photography accessory you'll ever buy.

Totally correct.

Once it's calibrated it's a superb lens.

+1 Lighting will take your photography to the next level.