^^ good job Derrick..
With a dslr a lot of it will have to do with your lens capability..You will also want to always shoot RAW if your camera has the capability with AWB (Auto White Balance). Editing RAW does not degrade the photo like editing jpg and you have more control of editing White Balance when editing a RAW image. With point and shoots you want to watch your ISO.. It can make your photos real grainy..
ALWAYS ALWAYS use a tripod and use a delay on the camera to avoid camera shake. If you are trying to shoot fish, it is a different story.