The lens you choose is dependent on what you are wanting to do with it. This lens is usually not as good as most kit lenses, IMO...I would consider spending about $30 more and getting a brand new 50mm 1.8 .
FROM THE DIGITAL PICTURE .COM LENS REVIEW
The Canon EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM Lens is...
Tripod, Tripod, Tripod! I like using ambient light. Street lights in a residential area or parks makes for good lighting. The main key IMO...is having light sources behind the car to illuminate your background, obviously you can't have a black background with a black car. I like off camera...
Google a bunch of other sites to model yours from. Then hire a web builder to build it. Otherwise you will end up with something that looks like any free gallery add on that comes with just about every hosting service.
Photography is a very tough field to break into and be profitable. Spending your college opportunity on this in my opinion is very risky. You would be better off to get a business degree and learn how to run the business of photography, then pick up your actual photo skills with various smaller...
Completely agree with enzodm...another thing to do is meter your shot to the lightest ambient light (the sky in most cases) then recompose your shot and adjust detail in post processing on areas you want to standout in. Burn and dodge tools will create depth to those areas and/or surfaces.
Nothing wrong with buying used...get more for your buck. (more lenses or maybe a good flash) If you then advance to the point of making a career out of it, then upgrade to new pro equipment as you can afford to do so.
This is of course their choice to have the setting they want, that being said...I would get a idea from them of what they think an appropriate background would be. Once you get that from them find an area that will best fit that, and adjust your DOF to throw the background out of focus. This...
Good lens and stays sharp with the 1.4
My only concern would be how it is sealed. Might give you problems if you are going to be around water alot with it...especially salt water.