Photoshop & lightroom Noob

[PonyBoy]

Hello,

I want to get into shooting cars but more for a hobble. Been a car junky for a long time and just thought taking pics was pretty fun. Well I'm pretty new to pictures and currently using a Canon Rebel. I like Dramatic photos but I don't like the to crazy HDR look. Maybe something like HDR but not so dramatic. Well, I took this pic of a friends car so didn't have much of a background for I had to shoot there at the house but added some stuff with lightroom and PS. All opinions accepted for I can use any tips on making the pic look nicer. Also what does CC mean? Very new to this forum thing. Thanks!
Before

After

 

[mikemicki]

Maybe like HDR but not so dramatic? Have you tried the "Dave Hill" effect? (google Dave Hill effect). I've been messing around with his "technique". Here's a link to one way to achieve the effect: creating the Dave Hill look

 

[impressme]

Also what does CC mean? Very new to this forum thing. Thanks!

CC or C&C- Constructive Criticism or comment & critique...

I like the photo and the enhancements you've already done. Some suggestions: I would PP (post process) out the electical wires from the background as they're distracting. (You can use the clone tool for this). Also, I would crop out some of the ground. I'm not crazy about the angle of this photo, I feel like it really is an odd vantage point to be seeing the car in. But I'm not a car buff so who am I to judge!

As far as PS (photoshop) tutorials and help with learning- one of the books I bought while I was in graphic design school was by Adobe called "Photoshop: Classroom in a Book". its a great book of tutorials designed to teach you what each tool and function in PS does.

 

[PonyBoy]

That looks awsome but I cant get passed

"run a High Pass filter on the duplicated layer. Then choose 4.0 as filter radius. WOW! Don't be alarmed, we will fix this in a sec... ""

What is a High Pass filter?

THANKS!!!!!!!!!

 

[PonyBoy]

Sorry Found it