Hi guys , newbie here but very interested in photography ... i've always checked out the photo galery ( but nvr posted ) .... the advice i see inside is all like .. use higher aperture ... exposure and things ... i wonder does all this apply to normal digital camera ? Can i juz get a regular digicam and strat snapping pics and make up my own gallery in the photo section ? I scared the pros wun care about me haha ... or u think i need an dSLR to learn my way up ? PLease advice =/

just get an SLR p&s camera a good 1 almost equal a D40 so just buy an SLR

well, if you're over here asking yourself this questions, then you might be infected already...

get yourself a DSLR

but the pros here will comment and help you out no matter what kind of user you are.. even if you were snapping with a 0.3mp camera pixel phone

of course!!! who said you can't take good pictures with compacts / P&S? i took better shots on my P&S / Prosumer than a lot of newbie DSLR pictures i see here (lens cap, mugs, random shots)

you don't need DSLR to learn your way up. it's more than just the camera, even with P&S you can learn many things as they also have various settings you can play with.

and no, we don't categorize people by their camera or gear. that wouldn't be fair, some people can afford more stuff than others - but ultimately we're all photographers, we enjoy the art of photographer and IMO that's where the direction should be heading, to help one another take better pictures.