How would I take a photo like photo #1 without the over exposure of the sky? Let's say the sky was cloudy and I wanted to include the clouds in that shot.
I would try underexposing it, or metering for just the sky if you have a spot metering option on your camera. That would bring out more saturated colors in the bamboo as well.
I couldn't agree more. While I think editing is great I also think many people rely on it too much. I think for someone who is just starting out (like me and the OP) it's best to learn how to use your camera to the best of your ability before relying on editing to fix your mistakes. Once you have mastered your equipment, then learn to enhance your photos with editing. That's just my opinion though.
I agree with this-- my overall goal for photography is to have the pictures come out of the camera as close to end-product as possible. Why rely on editing to make my photos good?
As for the OP, here is what I think:
#1- I love shots like this. If you want the sky to be less blown out, I would try retaking it and underexposing or spot metering like I mentioned above. I would also try different angles on it-- perhaps placing the sky opening off-center in various places to get a more dramatic angle from the bamboo.
#2- I also like really abstract-ish (since it isn't *really* abstract) shots like this. Try retaking it sometime when there is a bit more light, since it seems a bit blurred/soft. I like the shallow depth of field, and I would see how it looks with different parts of the chain in focus.
#3- Which settings were you trying out? If you were interested in retaking the shot or doing a bit of editing, the brown blob in the upper right corner (a window? shelf?) is distracting. Try to keep an eye out for things like this as you're shooting.
#4- You did very well on capturing the color and the texture of the clouds. Like others have said, just a slight crop (or a different angle if you can pull it off next time) does a world of difference. To avoid things like power lines, getting a bit more of the trees is a good option.
#5- This has a lot of potential. Again, try it with different areas in focus. As it is, you can get a very moody sort of shot and adding a subject, like someone on the stairs, can help it out a lot.
You're doing very well by just playing around and learning the camera settings. These don't look like snapshots at all, and they have a lot of potential.