Some Recent Photos after a Photo Class Project

I've been taking some photography classes to help improve my exposure and composition.  Not being an artist I have struggled with getting the correct light, I am either way overblown or just downright dark.

One of the biggest lessons I learned was how to use a 'grey card' to help determine exposure and assist with  white balance.  Since the camera wants to turn everything grey, this tool helps the photography determine what is true grey and expose correctly.  This small piece of cardboard has really helped improve my photography.

One of the last lessons I worked on dealt with Composition. I understood that to center an object tends to be wrong.  The other rules...who knew there were so many rule, kind of escaped me.  I would always place an object to the side, looking straight down.  Kinda of boring.

As I learned more, I started to experiment.  Let me know what you think.