Unsure Beginnings

I have been practicing photography for the past four years, using my Canon point and shoot, experimenting with my Olympus 35 mm film camera and finally, my Canon 50D XSI DSLR. When I first started working with my DSLR I have to say the thing terrified me! There were so many buttons and settings and no matter how many buttons I pushed and how many settings I changed my pictures never, EVER, turned out the way I wanted them to. I went through a period in which I got incredibly discouraged and didn't touch my camera, it just sat in its bag nice and clean, untouched and unused. I don't know how such a small piece of equipment could scare and intimidate me so much. After many conversations with my husband, most of them encouraging and some asking why I spent the money on this camera if I was going to keep it in a corner unused. It was after a few of these conversations I went and bought some photography books, took my camera out of its bag in the safe corner and never looked back!