Coder trying to be a designer here. I've spent a lot of time reading books and experimenting, but what I am really missing are beginner tutorials on how to make the popular elements I see on websites in photoshop (or even principles of creating the different elements).

Maybe I am not looking in the right places, but I would love to be able to find an exploration of gradients (for example) in Photoshop and/or css and how different configurations create different visuals. When I open up Photoshop and try it myself, I feel overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite color and position choices I have in front of me - and every attempt comes out looking horrible.