I took a photo class for fun because it was supposed to 35mm b&w and I thought it would be cool to learn how to develop my own film. Turned out they scrapped that class and focused only on digital. I was resistant to digital but was able to rent a dslr and ended up really liking it. I'll probably buy one if I ever have money in my life.
Anyways, these two photos were my favorites. The flashlight trick was new to me.
Cool! Digging the Statue photo! A Nikon D80 body goes for $170 on Ebay, I loved that camera. Unless you're blowing the photos up for huge prints, 10MP is great. The sensor doesn't preform great at high ISOs, but there's always work arounds. You can also use cheaper older glass because of the on board motor. I don't know you're living situation, but if you're like me just scraping by on rent, food, etc... Photography gear money is definitely worth skipping a meal a day, or say Starbucks.
What I guess I'm really trying to say is, you have talent, and I'd love to see more from you.