Photography Lessons

I used the macro (flower) setting on my dial.
Aperture: f/5.3, Shutter speed: 1/60 Focal Length: 38 mm, ISO speed 220-What this all means--not sure. Flickr helped me out under my picture properties.

One of the things I wanted to be "when I grew up" was a photographer. I wanted to take pictures of people-famous and not-and scenic breathtaking pictures. I was at an inservice for work one year and the speaker was a National Geographic Photographer. Even though the purpose of the inservice was not about photography-the photographs and stories he used to illustrate his message were inspiring. (My apologies to him-the years have erased his name from my memory-I remember the photos but have not (yet) found them). I bought an digital camera-one of the best point and shoots of the day-with a 10x zoom (very new at the time). I have thousands of pictures now-and I have a few that are surprisingly good. (Once, the manager at Walmart would not let my friend print the photos I took of Steven Tyler at a toy run because he thought she was violating a professional photographer's copyright.) But I still don't really take great pictures-I just take A LOT so i can go through and delete the many, many bad ones (the digital memory card is one of my favorite inventions EVER!)
Last year, My Husband spent too much money on me and bought be a Nikon D60 DSLR. I Love it. A year has passed-I have taken some decent pictures...but I am no better a photographer than I was before. (although, honey, I still think it is because I don't have a zoom lens yet-and Santa apparently forgot)
SO-I am embarking on a journey-hopefully one with lots of scenery. I am attempting Project 365. I am also participating in several online photography assignments via blogs. Both are daunting. Attempting Project 365 without having a child to photograph (I mean, how many pics of the dog can one REALLY take?) seems impossible-but the optimist in me believe this will open my eyes more to the photography opportunities around me.
The first blog assignment I chose was posed by Manic Mother:
Chose any one of the modes on your camera other than full auto and take a Winter-themed picture. Then come back next week and share it with us (we'll have a linky to link your post on Tuesday!). Include any information you have about the mode and settings that you used when taking your picture, so that we can all learn!
Since I am new to this blog-thing I cannot figure out how to put the picture at the bottom. So see the one above.