Help?

Hey there. I'm new to photography, never taken proper photos before, just random ones where I've not had a clue what I'm doing. I received a Samsung 09S3, 12.2 Mega Pixel Camera with 3X Zoom (6.3-18.9mm) & a tripod, for christmas & haven't got a clue how to take good shots. I have never used Photoshop before, & sadly, haven't got it installed on my computer (as I don't have enough money to buy it).
Can some one please give me tips on Photography for a beginner? I want to mainly take photographs of People, Landscape & Animals. But I haven't a clue what I'm doing. Also, can someone tell me a decent editing program that's free?

Thanks,
Cole

I'll address the editing program first. Gimp is a rather solid photoshop alternative.....and it's free. Here's the linky.

Now, onto addressing the photography side. There isn't enough time to address each area in a single post. My best advice would be to look through the "Photo Sharing" sections of POTN. Look into an EXIF viewer for your web browser. Firefox has a decent one. Look at the EXIF of the images you see. That will help give you an idea of proper settings. There is also a huge wealth on information in the "Talk About" sections, as well. However, the best way to learn photography is to take pictures, post them here and let people critique them. It's a great tool. BTW, welcome to POTN.

PIck up and read Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" to get a handle on some of the basic concepts of photography.