yea bro
i assume ur using the stock 18-55?
because 18 is plenty wide, and if u need wider just back up
and just some other tips
it looks like u live close 2 like a beach or somethin of that sort, so go there during sunrise/sunset and take pics
and also make sure u keep your horizon line strate
cuz i got alottttt of shit for that when i first started out
and also try to do noise reduction in like photoshop or gimp or lightroom or aperature or something, cuz otherwize it doesnt look as good, but dont overdo it
and if you want to do macros, pm me or somethin, cuz im like the macro master on most of these forums
just somethin to look at
this is 1 of my macro pics:
FLY STACK by
Electric Arc, on Flickr
and this is a video that i made on poor mans macro (macro you can do with stock lens)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/electric_arc/4326631948/
and a pic taken with that technique:
Fly at 18mm reversed lense by
Electric Arc, on Flickr
so yea, always have fun, and never let peoples shit that they give you hurt ur pics or make u stop takin pics, it did that to me for a while and it sucked
peace