Especially the first one looks pretty decent to me. Maybe should think about getting better friends? Learning to use whatever equipment you have well, in a creative manner, is much more important than details about the equipment. I'm not familiar with the feature details of any of the digital cameras, so I cannot comment on what your particular model may be lacking, or not. Certainly at 3.3M pixels there is enough resolution for anything you would possibly look at on a computer screen, or for a reasonable size print. You mention an f-setting and shutter speed, so I'm guessing you have some control over this? And perhaps some control over focus? That's all you really need in order to get to a point where the final image looks like you want it to look. Even without "manual" controls, most of the goodness is in the photographer's mind, not in the equipment. The second in this series is less exciting than the other two, IMO, because a lot of (important?) detail is lost in the darker bottom. ANY camera will have this characteristic. It is up to the photographer to decide how to expose properly, (or manipulate in the darkroom or in photoshop), in order to make the image that the photographer wants to achieve. Good luck, DtD, and welcome to this Forum.