[chad1.5litertoaster]

I'm trying to step up my photography, you know, bring it to the next level. Problem is no matter what I do the pictures come out soft or they just seem to be missing something.

I don't know what the hell to do to fix the problem. Am I using the wrong equipment? Do I need new/better equipment? Am I just not doing things right? I don't know.

Here are the details, of course you can look some of this stuff in the EXIF from my photos.....

Nikon D50, about 3 years old
Most shots with kit lens (18-55mm f3.5)
Some examples I'm posting are with a rental lens ( Nikkor 17-55mm f2.8)

I don't use a tripod durring the day, should I?

Please CC, give me serious advice, and fill me in on what may be the problem.

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Now for PP I really just adjust contrast, brightness, and saturation while in RAW format. Then I use the smart sharpen tool last before I save the picture to jpg format. once in jpg form, I size the picture down for web use.

Please give me some insight into what I need to do to improve my photgraphy. I have improved over the past few years, but it seems I have reached this plateau where my pics aren't improving much and I need to know if I need to buy equipment, work on PP, or what.

And, please, if you are going to come in here and be a smartass..... don't. I'd just like post that have usefull information.

Thanks in advance.

[JacobPhoto]

How sharp are the full size images? these don't look too bad.

It's hard to really say, without a shot for reference. Are you using 'unsharp mask' in any of these pics? do you have the in-camera sharpening turned on at all? Your photos don't have the exif info attached, what shutter speed are you using when you're taking these shots? all of these can contribute to sharpness issues. Overall, it doesn't appear to be too bad.

[chad1.5litertoaster]

I'm not using the unsharp mask. What does that do?

If you follow the picture addresses to my flickr account, I believe you can get all the EXIF info from there, otherwise I don't know how to have you get it.

Also, I have RAW untouched files of thes pics still, but I have no way of hosting them. Flickr doesn't let you post RAW files.

Overall I would say that my pictures do come out softer than the ones you are seeing here. I use smart sharpen to correct some of that. I don't know what else to add.

[BLacK FirE]

As Jacob, said these photos really don't look that soft and its hard to tell without seeing the full res versions (even if its jpeg). Using any form of sharpening and then making it into a smaller size will hide softness. If they are soft, how are you focusing, auto or manual? Also make sure your lens is clean.

[OneOhNine27]

First timer here.

Your shots look good. One of the things that bother me a bit though are the reflections given off from the cars.

Maybe you should invest in a good circular polarizer.

Other than that thumbs up!

[Pendulum]

First and foremost, I noticed that you said you sharpened BEFORE resizing for web? Make sure that you re-size BEFORE sharpening.

Also, make sure your lenses are nice and clean. Other than that, the only thing I can suggest is making sure your shutter speed is sufficiently high. I try to shoot at at least 1/100th of a second, unless I'm on a tripod. Honestly you can drop down to 1/60th or even 1/50th, but I only do that if I'm desperate for light or using flash.

Also, some off camera flashes can get rid of those shadows. Just pop a little light on the car, don't try to battle the sun.

Other than that, I'd suggest stepping up your processing.