Techniques to get the most vibrant color?

I've been playing with my new SLR and i'm having a hard time getting it to give me that "crisp and vibrant" color feel. They usually come out a little "pale" looking. Does anyone have suggestions for settings I could set or ideas how to achieve this? Or is this something you can only use photoshop for?

I saw this picture online and i'd like to be able to achieve the same type of color vibrancy in pictures I take.

http://www.usa.canon.com/uploadedima...h%20camera.jpg

I think it would be a better idea if you show us one or some pics to see what you are talking about thus to have a more studied reply on the matter.

When people go from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR (especially a professional DSLR) they are often disappointed by the results they get. The colours look bland and the image doesn't look sharp. This is because the image on a point-and-shoot is enhanced to please the average consumer whereas with a DSLR the image is left fairly neutral as the user is expected to know how to change the results to get what he likes, for the intended usage (an printed image may need different settings from on viewed on-screen)..

The settings you should try increasing are:

- Saturation = intensity of the colours
- Contrast = difference between black and white, punchiness of the image
- Sharpness = makes the image look sharper

It's a matter of taste. I prefer the more neutral look of a professional DSLR. I've had to reduce the saturation on my D60 (consumer DSLR) to make it look more like my D300 (professional DSLR) to stop the colours screaming at me. If the result doesn't look right when I print then I change it on the computer.

Its also a matter of getting the correct exposure and using a proper white balance.

For most outdoor uses, Auto white balance does pretty well, but in non-daylight light, definitely custom set the white balance.