Ideas to make my portraits better?

[Abbielynne]

P.S. I meant to post in portraits/ critique but I have troubles with forums...I'll learn
Hi! I'm a new DSLR photographer with a Canon Rebel XS. I have the lens kit that came with the camera and I tend to use the EF 18-55mm lens with Image Stabilization. I take portraits in local parks in the early morning or late afternoon. These below were taken on a cloudy day.
I thought that as I took more and more portraits that I would get better but I've seemed to hit a plateau and don't know where to turn from here. I'm not proud of the quality of my work right now. Do I need to upgrade my equipment (perhaps a new lens)? Do I need to focus my studies on lighting? Do I need to find the sweet spot of my lens? I want to create a higher caliber of images but how? I don't do much post processing because I like to do as much as possible in camera...is this my problem? Are the really nice pro images I see out there all post processed a lot?





These were taken on a cloudy day from 730-830am

[SoxAddict]

Welcome to DPS - it'd be great if you could post a couple of your shots directly into this thread for folk to see immediately, most people won't open up a new website so your pics will be missed. There's also a separate discussion board on this site for pure advice, rather than sharing images like here, so that may end up being much more useful for you. But we'd love you to post some of your photos into this thread!

[dvetter]

I think the 2nd shot is great, also welcome to dps! Lovely family pictues.

[kgb224]

Welcome here at DPS.I agree nr 2 is the best of them all.In nr 1 the sky is washed out as well as in nr 3.The sun must have been at its harshest when you took the pictures.Best time to take pictures is from sunrise to 10 in the morning and from 3 in the afternoon to sunset.From 10 to 3 is not a good time to take pictures as the sun as it's harshest.Do not put your camera when its overcast .It does help when it is overcast as one can get good qaulity pictures.