Thank you for having a looksy, you're more than welcome Nick9! I tend to just venture off and take photos of just about everything and have learned through "playing" so to speak little by little - I'm still learning and yes I'll admit I had a basic class on photography at college which opened my eyes to it but this was likewise, purely practical and just a matter of going off, playing around and finding your feet with the camera and each lens you have at hand - lighting, weather, atmosphere, location etc.
Really the best thing I could suggest is to take your camera EVERY where and take photos of whatever the hell catches your eye, the mood your in etc and take the same shot over and over with different apertures/shutter speeds/depth of field/lens(es) and most importantly, the ISO rating till you find something that feels right and looks great to YOU, don't bother with what others have to say about it so long as it makes YOU happy
This is really how I got to know what the hell I was doing with my camera, at first I'll admit I was terrified of breaking it by pushing the wrong button or so, but well, thats all part of the learning process which I'll state again I still am and never will stop learning
hell I could ramble on but won't haha don't hesitate to ask for an opinion/advice/help/tips or tricks I'm here! on flickr, and my FB page.
Not forgetting you here bookworm, thank you for your lovely compliments and the little thumbs up! spurs me on to keep on going!