I thought it would be cool to start a thread for all of the amateur or would-be amateur photographers out there. I just started a few months ago with my first "real" camera, a Nikon D60. I'm still in the very early stages of just learning how the camera works, and I bought an instructional DVD to show me what the different features of the camera are and how to use them. I've never taken any classes or anything, but I've always been interested in photography and thought this was a good time to teach myself.

So, share your pics, what kind of cameras you use, and let's help each other be better photographers! Please don't spam this thread with random images you didn't take yourself or that are just complete jokes, I actually want to see pictures that people are proud of and took their time with. If you're a professional photographer, feel free to chime in with criticisms and tips as well!

My hardware:

Nikon D60 with 17-55 2.8 and a 50mm 1.8g

I shoot in RAW and process images with Lightroom 2 64-bit. That's it, I don't use photoshop or anything.

I'm interested in getting into macro photography and doing HDR stuff, but I'll work on that later once I get the basics down. Here are a few shots I thought were decent. I have a strange tendency to hold the camera at a slight angle so most of the time I end up having to crop & rotate my pics, but I'm working on it.