Hey Phil, Just for now I would stay away from any 3D app/program (you can play with them a little later). They can be very tedious and divert from what YOU seem most adept at. You do a lot of photography, and you paint and draw. You are a 2D person. Concentrate on that, as it is where your head is at, and what you will have the best "feel" for in realizing your vision in CG. Photoshop is the basic foundation for most CG graphics and is more than capable at combining the real with the surreal. You said you are familiar with it.NOT good enough. You need to really study it and dig into what it has to offer you (which is basically unlimited possibilities). The only app I would suggest you might take a look at, to supplement Photoshop is Corels Painter. If you like to paint and draw you will find Painter used with a drawing tablet/stylus will fit your style like a glove (or brush). For you I would also say a must have is a good flat bed scanner. They are now VERY inexpensive with very high color bit depth and resolution. Look for the ones that have a built-in adapter for scanning negatives if you still are working with film (I use the Epson Perfection Photo series and swear by them). A flat bed is your link to the real world that brings into your computer, your negatives, photos, drawings, paintings and any 3D object you can fit on the glass such as flowers, leaves, thorn paper, fabrics or even your ass(what.. never heard of the surrealass movement?). Have fun, SWAMP OT side note: Ive made a living for over thirty years as a photographer/printer. A lot of my work was done with the 8x10 view camera to create hand coated platinum/palladium contact printshows that for doing straight photograph.