Moving Past Auto?
Hello Missbright81, Welcome to the Forum!
In addition to the good advice you're received so far, I'll throw out a suggestion;
For a few photos, set the mode dial on "Av". This is called Aperture Value, or Aperture Priority.
What this means is that you are selecting the aperture (F/Stop) on the lens, usually with the thumb dial, on mine it's the rear dial, but it could also be set for the front thumb dial. Either way, try changing the f/stop (you'll see it in the LCD and viewfinder display) and the camera will adjust the shutter speed to match.
Take a given photo at f/5.6, then adjust the f/stop to f/16, take the same shot. When you get home and download the work, look carefully at the difference between the two photos.
What you'll see, much better than I could explain here, is "Depth Of Field" (DOF).
The f/5.6 shot will have the main subject in sharp focus, but objects in front of and (especially) behind the main subject, will be more-or-less out-of-focus.
On the f/16 shot MORE of the objects ahead of or behind the main subjects will be in focus. Under certain conditions, EVERYTHING from a few feet in front, to infinity, will ALL be in focus.
Pretty cool, eh?
This is called "Selective Focus" using DOF, and is a very helpful and important part of photography. You direct the viewer's eye towards the important parts of a scene and minimize the "clutter" or unimportant parts.
For example, say you're shooting a candid portrait; You want the subject to be in sharp focus, but other distracting elements to "go away". A wide aperture (f/5.6 or wider, f/4.5, f/4/0, f/2.8, etc.) will do the trick. Some of the wider f/stops mentioned aren't available with the kit lens.
But with a scenic shot, you may want everything, near and far, to be in focus. Here you'll use a smaller aperture (bigger number, like f/16) to achieve this.
There's quite a bit more to this technique, but taking photos with different f/stops will get you rolling.
P.S., when (not "IF") you start wanting lenses with wider apertures like f/2.8, it's called LBA!
Good Luck!
Ron
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