New to this forum - please be kind

Your pictures are clear.  You're not setting your pictures up well.  Instead of taking a shot of looking down on a cardinal, it would be a really nice pic if you had been on your elbows.  The dog needs a nice background.

I'm new at this too.  Yesterday I had the opposite problem.  I took 138 pics at a horse show, and alot of them looked fakey, even hand held, just too sharp.  I do usually fix the exposure and color in the Windows Picture thing.  This was the first time I was not fiddling with alot of them.

Maybe try using the P setting for a while?  Even if to learn what you DON'T want.