[MrRetep]

So I got a free older dslr the other day, decided to go out and take some picture s+ photoshop. Keep in mind this is literally my first time doing any of this. Tips/tricks/criticism all welcome!

Here is the

View post on imgur.com

so you can really scrutinize it

[Weebl]

It is called "cooking" and you see how saturated it is? It could work with this particular photo but it does come across as "harsh". Sorry, I've never been a fan of cooked photos.
For your original I would:
knock down brightness just a couple points
increase blacks,vibrance and contrast
just a couple on saturation
a touch on fill light and knock some blue off.

You could also recover some of the clouds and crop more of "panorama" style to lose the yellow line.
Photograph at the level of your side mirror also.

[M_Six]

If you have Photoshop, you should have Adobe Camera RAW (ACR). Even if you shoot jpegs, you can still open them in ACR. The ACR sliders are almost always sufficient to correct most images.

As far as composition, you can see that when the haze is corrected, the mountain behind your car is stealing the viewer's eye away from the car. It's a hard thing to remember (I still forget), but you need to always consider your background. Here a longer lens would have created a shallower depth of field and left the background slightly out of focus (OOF) and then your car would have been the isolated subject.

I'm certainly no expert on car photography. I leave that to John Zhang. But look at some of his amazing work and you'll see how the car's surroundings can make a picture interesting without stealing attention from the car itself.

[Greenkirby21]

wow that looks great! ive always wanted a pro camera

[Weebl]

Mark,
I was thinking that it was landscape photography with the car thrown in for good measure since it is off to the side. I've taken a few pictures like that around SF or the GG bridge.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Weebl

Mark,
I was thinking that it was landscape photography with the car thrown in for good measure since it is off to the side. I've taken a few pictures like that around SF or the GG bridge.

If so, it's not bad. Although I think in that case a much higher shot showing more landscape would have been good.

MrReTep, look into a polarizing filter. They really help with the haze.