some good, some not but not sure why.....

[kb2crk]

Ok fixed That

[K6CPO]

on some of the shots the flash did go off and it was the built in flash. that might be some of it. some of the pictures at the last bridge also had orbs but the flash was off and the humidity lower (late afternoon).
there were some strange things going on at the last bridge outside of the pictures. the first bridge was at 9:30 am an still a lot of frost melting.

the first bridge was mostly taken into the sun. maybe that had something to do with it?

Bingo! The first three shots in the album that are totally underexposed are the result of shooting directly into the sun. The camera exposed for the bright light, underexposing the rest of the shot. The star shape is the result of the light refracting around the blades of the lens diaphragm.

The "orbs" as you call them, are lens flare. This is also the result of shooting into the sun, but with the sun outside the field of view of the lens. Does the lens you are using have a hood? If it does use it at ALL times, day or night, and if it doesn't, get one. In addition to helping prevent flare it will also help protect the lens. Speaking of lens protections, do you have a UV filter on the lens? If you do, take it off and get rid of it. It serves no useful purpose on a digital camera and only serves to degrade the image. Under the right conditions, it can actually make flare worse.

Many of the shots in your gallery show focusing errors, most likely from letting the camera choose the focus point. I suspect you are shooting in full auto mode ("green box.") You need to get away from this mode as soon as possible and start shooting with the "creative modes" on the camera. I also noticed a lack of compositional awareness in many of the shots. Many were just a mash of trees with no centralized subject.

There can be a bit of a learning curve involved with the move from a p&S (Point-and-Shoot) camera to a DSLR. My suggestion is to sign up at http://photography-on-the.net/forum and read the posts about your particular camera there. POTN, as it's called, is a Canon-oriented photography forum and you can learn a lot there. I would also suggest finding a camera club or group where you can have the benefit of photography "Elmers." Just like hams, photographers are always willing to help beginners.

I hope this information helps...