I agree about heavily processed photographs - but what actually sets apart "professional" (or let's call them "serious") landscape photographs from those people

I agree about heavily processed photographs - but what actually sets apart "professional" (or let's call them "serious") landscape photographs from those people like you and I take is the photographer's willingness to plan ahead and wait for juuust the right moment for a photograph. Let's take this image of Lake Bled in Slovenia: http://aurelm.com/wp-content/uploads/Gallery-Bled-lake-sunrise_01.jpg http://aurelm.com/wp-content/uploads/Gallery-Bled-lake-sunri... - ok, maybe it's a bit too saturated, but what makes it look impressive is the dramatic lighting, which can only be captured at sunrise (if you're lucky and the sky isn't completely overcast, of course). If he wanted a perfect photo, he could have also photoshopped out the crane behind the castle in the background, but he didn't...