I am a small time photographer. Which means I know enough to make the manual mode work well for most photos. I lean towards low cost or free alternatives which is why my list of equipment/tools might seem lacking.
Check me out at my home page.
Canon EOS Rebel XS,Bower 8mm Fullframe Fisheye (works best with 9mm settings), Panosaurus Tripod Head
Hugin,GIMP, Ubuntu or Mac OS X