Ok, ok. I’m about to make myself pretty vulnerable here. I have not shared any of my work publicly here yet and I think only BrownEyedGirl has seen anything of mine.
After I failed miserably at shooting film my freshman year of high school, I took a digital class. I began learning manual settings on a Canon Powershot A510, 5 megapixel point and shoot camera. My first DSLR (though it belonged to my mother, I just commandeered it all the time) was a Canon Rebel XTi. That’s nearly four generations older than your T3i. We picked it up in 2005, secondhand, off of Craigslist. I began to learn and discovered the power of shooting in RAW.
I purchased my own, first camera, in 2011. A Canon Rebel T3i.
I bought it where I work, on Black Friday. I picked up a 55-250mm f/3.5-5.6 IS telephoto lens with it. A month later, for our year anniversary, my boyfriend bought me a 50mm f/1.8 II lens. That lens didn’t leave my camera for roughly four months. It’s what I shot these photos with:
(Bear in mind, these were edited by my subject, Jake. I have misplaced my hard drive with my copy of the raws – so these don’t contain my EXIF data until I track down and wade through two terabytes of photos… yes, I suck at organization)
Canon Rebel T3i and a $120 50mm f/1.8.
You can take great photos with basic equipment. You need to have an understanding of both your camera AND composition.
These are images I am happy with. They are not perfect, but they are a higher quality than several fauxtographers deliver… oh, and every time I get together with Jake for a shoot? He pays me nothing.
Right now, work with your kit lens. If you don’t find that you need zoom very often, sell the 75-300. It is not stabilized. I have sold this stuff for three years, trust me. Your kit is a good place to start if you’re not ready to buy a “nifty fifty” (the 50mm f/1.8 prime lens).
Here is a good article that can help you a little with the capabilities of your current setup:
Will it give you a soft, creamy background? No. Not with those apertures… but it’s a good place to learn. AND, the recommendation of spending a day with it on, say, 50mm, will help you become acquainted with that focal length.