For ideas and inspiration I would think about what I want to photograph and search the net for ideas..plenty of good images out there and much cheaper than books.

If you find stuff you like and then shoot itself it may not look as good so look at the original pic and note things like what the angle the shot was taken from and especially the light and the time of day it may have been taken.

From a lot of images I see it is pretty certain that some dodging an burning has been done the enhance the image...not all of them but a reasonable share.

As for equipment then I would forget film and go digital.I shot film for many year in my own photography business and would never go back.With digital you can shot as much as you like as an experiment and not have to worry about D & P costs,neither do you have to buy film.There is also the added bonus that you can send your digital images on line to be printed saving trips to the town.

As for the camera I would say a digital SLR and not one of the lower end of the range.Our grandkids just got coolpix and I was sad to see the limitations of it.

OK that's my input..others may disagree with me but that is what the forum is for.

If I can help any more just reply

Eddie