A picture isn't worth any words if it isn't taken...

For Christmas 2009, my mom bought me my first SLR. I hadn't asked for one and had no clue that I was unwrapping such an awesome gift. The reasoning behind my new Nikon D5000 was that just 2.5 short weeks later, I was moving to NYC for my last semester of college. I did the best I could to take great pictures of the city and all of my adventures, but although I was using this fancy-schmancy camera, my pictures still looked like I took them with a little compact, hand-held camera. No bueno.

The whole Hipstamatic/Instagr.am/take-a-pic-and-edit-on-your-phone fad did not begin until long after I had left New York. Disappointing, right? But I definitely love using these apps all the time now. So much, in fact, that they have become all the more reason to not use my SLR...

So, I've decided to learn how to really use this fancy-schmancy camera! I've seen what professional photographers can do with such cameras, so I know it must be possible for me too. I took mine out this evening, started snapping a few pictures of the pup running around outside, and reminded myself of how much I really do still have to learn about this foreign object. I mean, who had time to think up all those settings??

What kind of camera do you have? Do you use it to its full potential? If you have an SLR, do you have any tips for this should-be-average beginner photographer?