Hi BES,
I thought i should mention this since you are starting off with your new 40d and this is what i did when i first got my hands on my 40d. If you look at the image galleries on this site (
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Gallery/), Bryan provides exif data (shutter speed, aperture, focal lenght and iso) besides the image. It gives a good idea of what setting work for what kinds of pictures. Again, these will NOT always work because of the unique light conditions. But i think its a good place to start experimenting.
Cheers!
Dev
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