Quote Originally Posted by Pyzik View Post
You already stated the first thing to learn, so you're well on your way. "Lighting is everything". Almost as a rule, more light = better.

Others may disagree but depending on what your subject is, I would say rather than jumping right into manual, try other priority modes such as "aperture priority" and "shutter priority". I use shutter priority when shooting birds and aperture priority when taking most pics that don't require flashes or strobes.
I'm in this camp as well. Since I started in video years ago, I like setting "shutter priority" because it makes more sense in my head. If you decide to go that route, you can then see what the camera comes up with for the aperture setting and that will help you learn the relationship between the two. If you wanted to start in "aperture priority," the concept is still the same.

I'd also be careful with kit lenses, as they can be very slow (read: they need a lot of light). Canon does have a telephoto kit lens that's also relatively fast for what it is and isn't that expensive (relatively), but it's usually not sold with a body as a kit. Link for examples.