it's not that i think it should be more colorful - but rather that the tones need more contrast - even in your ref pictures you can see a lot more variation. at some point it's likely that that wood was painted / varnished - you can even see it on the side (i think) so there would be traces of that as well. i usually find that you have to push the contrast in ps as things tend to look a little bland when applied to the model. anyway, sorry to go on...

as for lighting / rendering tutorials, you'll likely get a better response if you ask more specific questions. you should be able to find decent tutorials if you just google. in the meantime, check out the 3 point lighting tutorial here....

https://3drender.com/archives/index.htm