Nice pics indeed, ithackston and VERY nice Christmas gift as well!
I use a Nikon D70 ( not a gift...
) and love it dearly.
You should ask for a tripod as a Newyear present also, then you can make stunningly sharp night shots. ( pity you didn' t have one when taking that first pic )
Also, set your camera at RAW+JPEG mode and highest quality. That way you can use the JPEG' s for quick review and use the RAW- files for archival and photomanipulation.
Since this is a 6 MegaPixel camera, you' ll love what yoou can do with it.
Then save the 6Mp RAW- files as TIFF and resize ( if needed ) a copy and save it as a JPEG file for use on the web.
Your file will be smaller and of better quality.
I sharpened and resaved your " rusty nut " picture. It is much smaller now ( in filesize ) but looks great.
Also, try experimenting with DOF ( depth of field ) to get the focus ok.
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html and
http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/shutteraperture.php can help here.
Good luck,
Peter
( I' ll remove the image if you want me to, ofcouse )