Research

First & foremost I am a total amatuer with no formal training whatsoever. I've only ever taken photographs with a good compact, always on full auto. I have, however, taken photographs in clubs & on holiday.
I purchased a second hand Canon 400D with the view of taking better photographs when I go on holiday & generally.
I looked at two types of photography which really interest me, Long Exposure & Street. I played around with some long exposure stuff & found the effects very cool. I then stumbled across an e-book by Thomas Leuthard which really blew my mind. Another prominent street photographer who I've been looking at is Eric Kim
 I started to delve deeper into this sub-culture of Street Photography. The more I looked, the more appealing it became. I was hooked.
As you could imagine, photography can be a very expensive hobby so I'm on a strict budget. No Leica M9 for me!!

My Kit
Canon 400D
Canon EF 50mm 1:1.8II lens

Both purchased from Ebay, total spend £320. The canon 400D is a great camera for someone like me, a previous point & shoot user, the perfect first DSLR.
Before I could go out & shoot I thought I needed some inspiration so I downloaded Thomas Leuthard's fantastic e-book, Going Candid where he explains his motivations behind Street Photography. He also outlines his tips & techniques on capturing that Decisive Moment. This book has some fantastic images which are truly inspiring.
One thing I picked up almost immediately is how close the pros get to their subjects. Further reading tells me that I have to use a prime lens to get up close and personal. These pro guys are using 28 or 35mm lenses which give great results. The smallest prime lens for the 400D is the leans I currently have, the EF 50mm 1:1.8II.
As I'm a complete beginner I'm not going to get really technical in this blog. I'll just post up my experiences & some shots which will hopfully get better as my skill improves.