DSLR's are not the way to go. Not from zero to DSLR.
I would highly recommend a point and shoot with a decent lens, Sony has Zeiss lenses (more or less) and Panasonic has Leica lenses.
What gets you quality photographs are "the glass", and the sensor.
Micro 4 3rds cameras (CANON is a good example) are pure pro photographers tools, to the point where my brother in law (who used to pal around with Ansel Adams and Edward Weston) teaches B&W photo seminars in the desert actually uses his tiny Canon for everything now, even tho he has $20k of (heavy) Canon DSLR gear...
Personally I prefer Nikon DSLR cameras, the older lenses are pretty outstanding.
But I use a Panasonic Lumix LX5, cheap, handy, and does amazing close ups.
"The best camera is the one you have on you", and the lighter and more compact the better. Obviously the Iphone, etc fits this shirt pocket category.
As well, with a "real" camera, you can learn things like how to control exposure, depth of field, etc.
Any old Kodak publication "How to make great pictures" from the 50's can teach you everything you need to know about these things, as well as hundreds of other books, John Hedgecoe comes to mind, but I'm a bitof a dinosaur I suppose...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hedgecoe
In closing, I'd have to say my point and shoot consistently takes better quickie pics than the fussy DSLR which has a tendency to underexpose, especially with wide angle lenses.
But if I hear a Pileated Woodpecker chomping on a snag and I want to try to get a decent pic, I grab the Nikon with a 300 lens, which by the way when
not on a "full frame" DSLR undergoes a 1.6 multiplication for an actual focal length of 480mm, not too shabby for birds.
I did graduate from a 2 year Commercial Photo program back in 1997, back in the lovely old darkroom days. The teachers made us shoot everything on 4x5's, 35mm cameras were not considered serious cameras, especially not for any kind of serious art photography...
Had my first darkroom in a bedroom closet in 1972, when I was 11. I'd got black Pentax Spotmatic for my birthday, and I was in heaven. I'd already been shooting since I was about 8 on a good old Kodak 126 film Instamatic... ;-)