Piligar wrote:
1) I have a Seagate 500 GB external drive that I use to store photos. I have plugged it in but don't know where to look to find it.
Just as in the "other environment", it helps if you tell us what version of the OS you are using. Some features change from one version to another.
If there's no problem with your drive, you should be able to access it from the desktop or a Finder's window sidebar. Both are controlled from Finder's Preferences.
To display the drive on the desktop, go to Finder > Preferences > General
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3737>
(look for "Change what's displayed on the dekstop")
To show the drive in the Sidebar, go to Finder > Preferences > Sidebar
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.7/en/mh14108.html>
If the drive doesn't show after you enabled it in the Preferences, then there is a problem with it, such as not enough power delivered by the USB bus. Note that, if it is formatted in NTFS, Win's default file system, it can only be mounted as read-only. To write to it you need additional software, which I don't recommend, or you need to re-format it. The format depends on whether you wish to use it with Macs only, or also with PCs.
Is there a tutorial site for the Macbook Pro and for iPhotos?
There is indeed, and I think some have already been suggested. You should also benefit from
Switch 101: On Windows, I used to...
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2514>