Hi Lee

It's absolutley not one of those things you either have or don't - photography is a skill which you can learn like any other with the right application and willingness to learn.

I would not suggest taking classes though. More often than not they are ran by inexperienced people without the right knowledge to teach what they are teaching. You will learn a million times more by going out to take photographs.

My first advice is to take it out of AUTO mode immediately. Either shoot in A mode (Aperture Priority) or S mode (Shutter Speed Priority) - read your manual to get the full explanation on what this means - but you won't learn how to be a good photographer in AUTO because the camera does everything for you like a normal point and shoot - and this defeats the object of an SLR.

The most important thing you need to do is understand Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO Sensitivity - and learn the correlation between them. Check eBay and amazon etc. to find a copy of "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson - it is the best £10 you will ever spend. Read this cover to cover and you'll be able to select the right exposure for your image every time.

I got my DSLR in May 2006 and I'm still learning, but getting there. Have a look at my website - http://www.mfphotography.co.uk some of my stuff is on there although not much.

Lastly, get registered on http://www.dpreview.com and read through the forums there, this has been the single most valuable resource I've come across, and 99% of what I've learned, I've learned from these forums.

Just out of interest - what camera did you get?

Kind regards,
Martin