Hi
I am a forth year student of architecture and at our university presentation is key! same in the real world! I used archicad and lightworks up until the end of my third year and then made the switch to c4d because it was far better for rendering.
After 5 months with AR I switched to vray! No looking back, after reading the manual and a few example scenes I think vray is the best especially with c4d. Its so easy to produce nice images!
I would suggest you just stick at it and ask for help mate, its the only way anyone gets any better. There are loads of people out there willing to help!
Your lighting issues may have something to do with your materials and your vray camera (Try lowering the film ISO in the physical camera)
Just keep at it. theres plenty of people willing to help
best regards
Tom