PBase

I'm a newbie to the world of digital photography and just got a Nikon D40 (love it!). Along with the lens that comes with the body, I purchased a 60mm macro lens and so far have greatly enjoyed testing its possibilities. I've long enjoyed viewing photos of insects, flowers, and other small objects. I also travel a lot in the U.S. abroad and enjoy documenting my travels.

Photo editing is untrodden ground for me, and I'm a bit dazed and confused. I'd love to hear some suggestions for good editing software that will allow me to experiment with color, tone, etc., and generally "play" with my photos. In the meantime, I'll continue to sift through the forum as well. Thanks!

If you can afford $100 I'd suggest Photoshop Elements. It's remarkably powerful. If that's a bit much there are a lot of cheaper alternatives out there, and even free programs. Photoshop (the full version, which I don't suggest at this point for you) is the gold standard that photo editing programs strive to equal. Elements is a scaled down version of it tailored specifically for photographers. You may someday want to cough up the huge chunk of change it costs, but Elements may be all you ever need.

Since you shoot Nikon I'd also suggest Nikon View NX or Nikon Capture NX.

I agree with the above, Photoshop Elements is fab - I use it for anything I shoot, including print publication. Its only drawback is the lack of batch editing. If you like processing RAW< then I recommend the excellent (free) Rawtherapee - just google it and then download, but its purely for editing, whereas Elements has cataloguing and editing.