Does anyone know of any courses or workshops that can be taken to advance the knowledge of a beginner? I live in Dallas and would like to find somewhere either online or in my area to teach me more about taking better pictures, understanding settings, and editing with photoshop.
Look for a community college class on digital photography. Not only will they go through how to use your camera and work on composition and all the technical stuff, they'll also go through photoshop techniques. They're also usually less than $100 for a full semester.
First off, there are a ton of tutorials around the next, and it's easy to find them, my bookmarks bar is overflowing at this point. Secondly, join a group nearby, meetups is great for that, I've just joined two this week and I'm already booked into a really cheap photoshop day course and a free meetup at a motorcycle convention with many other more experienced photographers. Finally, check out what classes are around. Start off with the colleges of course, but there are other places. I just started a class at my local college which will be running until August and I'm already loving it. The teacher is great, there are a ton of students to meet, and the facilities are top notch. Just make sure to do your research so that your satisfied with your class. The nice thing about photography that I've found is that if you look, you'll find you are far from alone.
