what did you do in photoshop to get this effect?

What makes you think it was 'shopped? Whet 'effect' do you mean?

just looks really vibrant etc, makes me hate my crappy D80 moreso as all my pics are bland and dull in terms of graphical quality

David, I don't actually have Photoshop on any of the computers that I use. The only Photoshop product I use for my photography is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
The only thing I did to that image was add a little sharpening on export, otherwise it's straight from the camera.

Mark

Better cameras do not make better photographers.

I didn't think the image was that bad …

Mark

noticed that with a lot of timark pictures, If I were to photograph the exact same thing it would look much much worse

Haha, I'm sure and I hope you realise I was not referring to your picture or you!

Bratty, why don't you try to copy a picture you like? Spending time thinking about how a picture has been taken and trying to replicate it teaches a lot. You'll probably then find you develop your own eye for what makes a good picture.

Mark's also sporting a decent lens, don't forget. After taking my new handy dandy 50mm 1.4 to a party last night, I'm of the opinion that a good lens makes a hell of a difference. I'm feeling more fondly towards my DSLR now I'm not stuck with the kit lens.

Nick, I've not had a chance to sit down and think through an alternative work flow for you, and I'm knackered this evening, but I'll have a head scratch and see if I can offer anything new tomorrow.

Thanks Alex; don't go to any trouble - I need to get better editing software than FCX if I'm to do all that I want with the files. Shooting at 25 instead of 24 will do for now!