Adler It's taken me over a year and half to REALLY be able to maximize Lightroom. I'm having to go back and re-edit all of my old stuff. Exposure, and fill light are your friends. It will give you more even lighting vs the brightness tab.
I've got a few hours under my belt...just when I was starting to get a hang of Photoshop.
Fantastic. Did you manipulate the clarity, or add a vignette?