I know what you mean about the "up to par" thing. I kinda find it better to shoot the subject till I cant' take it anyore. I'll hit something and be happy with it but in the back of my mind I know chances are something else might come along....better angle, lighting, random act of god or something....and I'll get another great shot in.
That's true. Take lots of pictures of the same subject. I took maybe 50 photos of my car in one position. I picked the two I like best and uploaded them.
It's better to have 100 to choose from than 2.
My suggestion, shoot very early in the morning or later in the day. The lighting is very bland in the middle of the afternoon. I like to shoot an hour or two before sunset. The sky really goes blue and the colors really pop. I sis not play with the color, brightness, or anything to this photograph. I blurred the license and uploaded it. The lens had no filters, I didn't use any fancy tricks. I shot 45 minutes before sunset.