Photographers... help me!
 

All,

I got a Canon EOS Rebel XSi for Christmas last year from my parents because I wanted to get into car photography. This is the camera I am using now: Newegg.com - Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black 12.20 MP 3.0" 230K LCD Digital SLR Camera w/EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens

Although the pictures I take are the highest quality I have ever taken when compared to other cameras, it still is not quite the quality I want.

I don't know if I need to upgrade my lens, or purchase some editing software.

Here is a picture I have taken with my current setup:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...LBBQ/Mine1.jpg

The above picture looks a little grainy to me. It still looks decent, but the colors and details of the environment don't seem to really stick out.

Here is the quality of picture I wish to take:

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...C_0056copy.jpg
(Thanks AA!)

Now this picture is what I wish to take. I love how the surrounding environment as well as the car come alive with color and detail.

Anyways, I was hoping some experienced photographers could assist me in getting the results I desire.

there can be a lot of factors that make the Infiniti picture 'pop'.

1) editing, changing exposure levels, contrast rations, effects after the picture
2) HDR - high dynamic range - HDR photo's in my opinion are the best type of photo's, but i highly doubt the picture above is an HDR picture, possible tho.
3) using manual settings on the camera. using a larger f-stop, longer exposure...

it's not the lense you're using. well, not completely, haha. if you're using the 18-55 lens that came with the camera, i'd def invest in a new lens, not just to get a better picture like the 1 above, that wont solve the problem instantly, but a better lens will help you overall with shooting.

Get used to post-production. Your XSi came with a disc of software called EOS Digital Solutions. It includes a photo editing software that will help you make your pictures pop more, after-the-fact. The G37 photo looks as if the photographer played with a host of things (Levels, contrast, exposure, and certainly saturation).

A second option is to get used to Picture Styles on the camera. You can set up a custom style with increased sharpness, contrast and saturation levels all in-camera. The best thing for anyone new to the DSLR world to do is read the instruction manual. When I got into DSLR photography, I read the manual of my XTi front to back.

But the greatest tip of all: Just keep shooting.

I don't recall seeing anything called EOS Digital Solutions. I do have EOS Digital Photo Professional installed.

As Twisted pointed out, you'll have to learn to post process your images. I didn't do much here, just some subtle adjustments, but you can see it makes the image pop a little more. Check out photography-on-the.net, it's a forum for canon shooters.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...LBBQ/Mine1.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7488/370zn.jpg

That definitely looks better!

Thank you for the website as well.

are we talking about practice?!?! that's it my friend... practice.

I would PM DigitalMan,he know what he's doing. Lots of experience!

http://www.the370z.com/members-370z-...d-gallery.html

Grainy is usually caused by low light. Try a tripod and use a longer exposure time, which you can do by useing a lower number f-stop.This of course is in low light shoots.

Ugg...if I brought my friends in here who take photos for a living (and edit them of course), they'd have a field day on some of these :-/

I'd aim a LOT higher than that Infinity shot - that thing is not nearly as attractive as you think, its way over edited and grainy. Oh yeah, and as someone already said - talk to DigitalMan - that guy does some good shots.

Aim for quality like this, please:
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/8523/shoe2.jpg
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8954/shoe3.jpg
http://www.luckyphotography.net/photos/ry-2.jpg


This is a perfect example of an "overdone" HDR:
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...7/Untitled.jpg

I'll try to find some of these guys shots of cars - they are very good at what they do, its just that they tend to limit the "free" shoots they do now, simply because it IS a business, you know :)

^ Thanks BoBo! I could use a tripod. That might be a good first step.

Would you care to ask your friends what Software they use to edit their pictures?

A polarizer, will help your photography. It can help(in some cases ,not all) saturate colors, remove reflection-with a black car you should really have one(if you don't already).
It's not the lens your using , there is no problem with that! Actually your photo isn't bad! A tripod would help,"but very little in that photo". I can not see any "camera hand shake". Check your pixel setting.
polrizer

A tripod is an absolute must, no questions asked. A quality lens, comes right after that. Once you have the proper tools, then you need to work on framing your pictures properly. Unwanted distractions that break up the photo need to go (IE, light poles, stop signs, stuff like that), along with crazy angles that people think make a photo interesting, but in the end, all it does is make peoples head tilt and just become uncomfortable lol. No insult intended, but your first photo was one of those :-/. *edit* Actually, on second thought, your picture isn't TOO bad...but I try to avoid the tilt thing period. Thats just me, I guess.

I'm fairly sure most use Photoshop, but I will try to find out for sure. In the end its not so much the software, so much as knowing what to do with it. Simply adjusting brightness and contrast, and using the sharpen/soften tools, is not really adjusting a photo properly. Look how much detail was lost in your photos after the editing? You don't even see your grill anymore, its so dark! Making a black look more "black" isn't always the right way to go :). So you'll ask next, "well, what do you do then?" Obviously, I cant answer this sadly :(. I'll see if I can find a place to refer you to for those answers, though...

Keep in mind, I don't have the skills myself - I just learned a lot from these people who are very, very good at what they do.

Yeah, I understand what you are saying. I'm a novice at most, but I hope to pick it up soon.

Rep added :tup:

As per what someone else was saying earlier, having photo editing software is a must for photography. Here's an example before/after of a photo that I touched up of my car that a friend took.

Before:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2e1rczr.jpg

After:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2nbvqxs.jpg

I don't consider myself an expert photographer by any means, but you can see the nice effects you can create by having a little know-how with tools like Photoshop.