<div align="center">Well i bought a nikon d40 the other day and here are a few of my best shots from the first day with it... I've only ever done point and shoot so constructive criticism would be helpful. </div>
Probably the best thing I can tell you is that, if you can, use manual settings. I stopped trusting my D40 to set things up when I realized I could do way better. I adjust my camera before I start taking pictures, then I most likely will be able to keep the settings around the same thing the whole time. Faster shutter speed is good for people and moving objects. Having the F-stop open the whole way will give you a narrower field of vue. F-stop, if you don't know, is the thing that blocks light. On your screen, it'll be just right of the shutter speed. For the picture of the bird, I probably would have opened it up a bit more. Your photo would have been a bit brighter. Unless you were going for the silhouette, of course . Just practice a lot. Experiment with all the settings and see which ones you prefer. Remember that you can always take extra pictures to make sure you have the settings right. I always try and take extra pictures anyway; more often than not, one of them will turn out nicely. Oh... get yourself a tripod . Night photography is fun, but needs a tripod. Your pictures, to my not too trained eye but trained better than the untrained eye, seem to have a nice composition. I like them at least. The bird flapping its wings is probably my favorite, just because of the position of the wings. Nice capture. I like the grass too. Looks pretty sharp. The first one is nice because you don't just have a random guy. You frame the shot so that you can see the tools and whatnot. Looks like a serious worker to me . Ask me in two years when I have a degree in photography 0.o, I know where you live, bwahahahaha! (license plate)
HAHAH thats probably the best thing i've heard all day... although it makes you sound like a creep... thanks for the input guys, the first post was much appreciated!