Photography day one...

I've always been interested in taking photos. My first camera was a Fuji disposable I got when I was in standard 4. I took all sorts of photos on it at home and at school, but the other kids at school didn't believe it was a real camera and wanted me to take photos of them for proof.
Mum and Grandma had cameras and were always taking photos of everything so I suppose I learnt to like photography from them. Grandma always said my photos were good and she was especially pleased with one I took on her camera while waiting for my sisters outside the toilets at the arboretum. It was a bird on a branch nearby. I took another similar one a few years ago at Grandmas house. I liked that photo because it gave the feeling of an icy winters day, with a bird sitting on the bare twigs of the tree.
I got my first real camera when I was not much older possibly form one. It was a little Kodak point and click (with an automatic flash) from the Warehouse. It was black with red and yellow parts to it (such as the part where you wound on the photo and the slider that covered the lens). And I remember putting a sticker of some sort (a smiley face I think) on the front too. I really wanted that camera, and was so pleased when I got it for my birthday.
In 2004 (aged 19) that camera finally decided to start taking photos with all sorts of funny lines across it and double exposures. So it was the end. I went to cash converters and bought a new camera, the same as the one Grandma'd had. I thought it was better because it had a zoom on it.
Although I loved the thrill of finishing a film and going to the photo processors to pick up the photos, in 2005 I bought a digital camera. It was another Kodak and was halfway between a compact and a DSLR (bigger than a compact but not as many functions as a DSLR and lens couldn't be changed) but was a really good camera. It came with me everywhere around NZ and Australia, from the outback to up the top of a glacier (which I don't recommend).
But a few years later (2008) I decided I wanted something bigger and better with more mega-pixels (higher resolution) that I could use to take photos for use in my design work. I sold the Kodak to Mel and bought a Canon EOS 450D (DSLR) and a small compact Fujifilm Finepix J15 with an underwater case. The smaller one stays in my bag ready for all occasions and I can use it for snorkeling or at the beach (or up glaciers) in its case without it getting wet.
The larger camera has lots of manual settings and other features that I'm still learning to use. And now that I'm getting the hang of them I can learn to take some more creative photos as I have seen around, instead of just the straight photo or a photo with a blurry background etc.
And even though I'm great at Photoshop and RAW, I want to be able to do things with the camera itself. And take really good photos.
Because I was never able to get into any photography courses/classes my goal this year is to teach myself some new techniques through tutorials on the net. I only have the one lens so far, so I'll see what I can achieve with that.
So, let me begin...