Im totally self-taught, I got my first ever SLR from a friend who did a swap for my microwave oven lol. It was an old Russian Zenith which was totally manual. I taught myself how to use it, took out lotsa library books, learnt exposure, light etc etc. Its taken ten years for me to get to where I am

Now I am totally new to the digital era, used to think noise was a music file I sent by accident with my images lol. But slowly through discussion forums like these I am getting there.