Hi, I still learning on taking landscape photo and I had issue on this image, I wondering is my photography skills problem or my editing skill problem.
I wondering why my picture outcome is not as nice as those on professional no matter how i try to sharpen and improve the contrast.

Original photo:


Edited photo:


Camera - Canon 650D
Lens - Sigma 18-35mm f1.8
Shooting format - JPEG

I wish I have some result like those professional seascape photo
Is it my photography skill problem or editing skill problem? or I should shoot in RAW format?
Can anyone please guide me?

it's not just about sharpen and contrast.

exposure - sometimes you need to lighten or darken certain parts of the image

color - too much here. slight colour tint in shadows, another tint in highlights, individually adjusting hue/saturation/luminance of certain colours only...

composition - i think shooting slightly lower so that the left rocks are higher than the horizon would make it more interesting.

compositing - photoshop in more dramatic clouds

dont worry bro, a lot of ppl take years and years to produce professional results. Im still learning myself. Youtube is your friend.

Photography skill problem.

When you don't have the fundamental in the first place, you won't know how to edit.

When you don't know what is good color and composition, editing has no goal.

ok...
you more the ratio of the sea take 2/3 while sky is another 1/3?
for the dramatic cloud how can I do it?
because when I take this picture, the beach is very cloudy. the trip is arranged at the wrong timing
and does CPL help much in this matter?

may i know how to improve the fundamental?
i did use histogram, sharpen and etc.
I also realize my photo is not clear enough. a bit hazy.

Start by choosing a good scene.

Were you trying to achieve something like this? https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/be...SsgpF9A71A-1-22

If you shoot in bad weather then you'll have to PP quite a fair bit to get it to look good.

That also you need to work on composition first.

Yes...
or something like this:
https://cdn.contrastly.com/wp-content/uploa...pe-1.jpg?x92048

but my photo still far from this level

i see... i tried to adjust at the beach for almost 1 hour. still didnt get the best out of it.
i lowered tripod, tilting camera, zoom in and out... my god...

Lens - Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 <=- you need it to be 18 or wider if you want to cover more ground.

ya... i did adjust the aperture.
i think i might need to shoot in RAW format.
i forget this during the shoot

No, not referring to aperture. I'm referring to focal length.

Not necessarily need to shoot in RAW format either. RAW format also no use if you have no clue what the final outcome should be.

oopsss... see wrongly.

hmm... alright.
so any advice on how to improve my skill?

People will tell you to shoot more. I disagree.

You should think more. THINK of what type of photo you want to produce, after that you have to think where to shoot.

Look at more pictures, see how they compose.

Don't blindly go in hentam, it won't work well that way.

ya ya.... often saw those advice..
alright. thank you for your advice

Ah I didnt realise you were using the Sigma 18-35. Should've spent the money on books or classes first bro.

At least one good thing you did was ensuring the horizon is level.

try taking the same photo again but during sunrise or sunset (google "Golden Hours"). you'll immediately see a big improvement there.

Thanks thanks...

May I know what kind of book you recommend? tutorial type or photographer album?
last time i bought one, due to i greedy, i pick the one that teach all kind of photography.
After i read then i realize it is not so detail, more like a "quantity more than quality thing"

There are 3 parts in taking a good landscape picture.

1. Preparation
This part includes selecting a good location and a good timing to take the picture.
Many beginner/tourist make the mistake that they can just turn up at the place and take good pictures from it, as you evidently did. You need to scout the place using google map, understand where the sun is going to rise or set.
When taking landscape, the sun is your best friend, and the best time to take it is during sunrise or sunset. It creates shadows and shades that makes your picture pop, like portrait.

2. Taking the picture.
This part includes composition and the techniques to get your desire effect.
Composition is a gift like drawing. Some people have a knack of it, some dont. However, ppl can be coached into getting good composition, from observing other ppls picture, observing simple photography rule like 1/3 or leading lines or you can simply take some art lessons.
Techniques u learn from experience and experimentation. Specifically to your picture, u r trying to get some wave movement and u have achieve it by slowing the shutter speed... next u need to experiment how different shutter sppeed gives u different effect. e.g u put 3s exposure, and the waves becomes foamy..
Techniques is the easiest part to master with modern cameras already doing most of the job for us...

3. Post processing
You can learn alot online from this and it comes with experience tooo.
I dont do too much edit, as i like to get it as close to final product during the picture taking phase. Thats why i use filters like gnd or rgnd..

U could take a look at my flickr link in my siggy, and i could give pointers if u like

HI, thank you very much for your guide.
I am understand.
browsed your Flickr and saw your seascape, very nice.
May I know do you shoot them in RAW?

another thing is my photo seems to be hazy. is that due to the weather?

This post has been edited by alpha91: Jan 13 2018, 12:51 AM

Yes i always shoot raw, because you can easily tweak the white balance in post processing.
Also raw contains more data of the picture so u have more leeway to tweak the brightness.

You pic doesnt seems hazy to me, maybe its just the cloudy day, that makes the whole picture very flat in terms of contrast

When taking seascape with waves and rocks, u need to get close to your subjects. you need to add foreground. If you think 18 is not wide enough, u can always take portrait mode

ok... thank you very much. I will practice more and more.

Search for Thomas Heaton in Youtube and learn how he prepares, thinks, shoots and edits to get a photo. The effort he spends to get a single photo is what I think makes him a real pro.

oh... ok. thank you very much for recommendation