Photoshop Skills

[AUZambo]

Here's a before and after of a shot I took a couple of weeks ago. I posted the after pic in general gallery just to see what everyone thought, but I'd almost have more input on how I edited it. What would y'all have done differently? I've obviously got ALOT to learn about getting the exposure correct to begin with! Would center weighted spot metering be what I should have used? Also, I think I lightened the second a little too much...I feel I lost some of the "early morning" feel.

Before

After

 

[EOS_JD]

In your after image, look at Image>Adjustments>Levels. That gapon the left should not be there. Bring in the black slider till it touches the start of the graph and it makes a big difference (adding contrast)

 

[cHeeunIT890]

the one you posted up is a little bland. there's no color or contrast to really make out any details. i would've done something more like this:

steps i did (in order)
-cropped
-levels
-curves
-increased color saturation using levels in lab mode
-added selective color layers to touch up some parts