Lenses

• A professional photographer needs a variety of lenses to produce superior photos. You will need a wide-angle zoom, wide-to-telephoto zoom, and an image-stabilized zoom lens. Most photographers, whether they work in-studio or out in the field, require a wide-angle zoom lens. The most common size is 17-35 mm, but nature photographers may need 500-600 mm to capture long shots. A telephoto lens allows the photographer to keep the photo subject in focus on a zoom shot, while an image-stabilized lens keeps minor lens shaking from creating a blur in the photo.
  
  

Lighting

• As most pros can attest, ambient light won't always work in your favor, although a reflector and diffusion cloth will help you manipulate what light you have. While a built-in camera flash is adequate for many shots, an external flash with cord allows you to place your flash lighting at various angles in relation to the camera lens to create different lighting effects.
  
  

Odds and Ends

• Despite the availability of stabilizing lenses, a camera tripod is always a smart purchase. When on long shoots or outdoors in tricky terrain, the ability to shoot hands-free can be a back- and wrist-saver. Take along an inexpensive spot meter so you can make the best use of ambient light. If you plan to spend a lot of time out and about, a comfortable bag is a must; you'll need it to hold the camera body, lenses and flashes, batteries, chargers, tripod, diffusers and other supplies. Your bag should be large enough for all your accessories but small enough that it's manageable and your supplies don't roll around in transport.
  
  

Software

• A professional photographer's job doesn't end when the shoot is over. Photo editing is an essential part of digital photography. Most personal computers come with basic software that allows the user to perform photo cropping, resizing and color correction. You will also need to purchase more sophisticated software to apply color filters, layer photo effects and make other corrections to your photographs. Once you begin producing large volumes of photos, you'll discover that you need software specifically designed to organize and store digital images.