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Since you didn't provide much info about how your shot was taken, please excuse any points that don't apply:
1. Use a tripod, pretty much always for landscapes.
2. Focus seems way off somehow; I'm guessing perhaps the scene was too bright (shooting into the sun) for the camera to get a proper focus reading. Switch to manual focus.
2a. Find out the "optimal" aperture for your lens; usually it can range from f8 to f16 depending on the lens (usually f11 for most I think); smaller than that and you might notice a slight blurring even at a perfect focal distance.
2b. Read up a bit on hyperfocal distance, too, to try and get as much in the scene as sharp as possible. Rule of thumb is to focus about 1/3rd of the distance into the scene.
3. Shooting into the sun is going to pose significant exposure challenges. Your camera is going to try to find the most balanced exposure for the scene, so the brightness of the sun is going to tip that balance and that's why the scene comes out dark. This is where you may want to think about shooting manual mode, and adjust your exposure time to expose for the water and icebergs. You may also want to get the sun out of the frame entirely, such as behind cloud cover as Chris appears to have done.
The colour hue and speckles of light on Chris' photo appear to be more a result of some post-processing as well. Looks like he worked the contrast to maximize the effect of the sunbeams, and added a large dark vignette to focus the viewer on the centre of the image.
That's my interpretation, anyway. Would love to see what others think as well.
I had a tripod BUT it was very windy, so probably some shaking.
Mine was set on manual, low ISO, 30 second take. It was too dark for my camera to autofocus so I had to make a best guess as to when it was clear. The absolute only thing visible, and even then only for a few moments every so often, was the light to the upper right, on a lighthouse in the background. And the moon, of course, but that was behind enough cloud that it couldn't autofocus.
That's the moon in mine too, not the sun.
__________________ Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."
It's impossible to get a sharp photo with a long exposure in wind. Seeing as it's always windy in your area, you need to shield your camera from the wind somehow.
The Crockwell picture is heavily edited. It looks pleasing, but that lighting would never occur naturally.
Also note how minimal his composition is. It's clear that the subject is the iceberg and it shows a lot of depth because the foreground is open and the clouds vanish into the horizon. In yours, the rock in the foreground looks like it's blocking the view, and the icebergs are small and distant.
There isn't enough contrast in your photo, it just looks dark because you're shooting into the sun. Unless the sun and sky are your subject, it's best to keep the sun out of the frame.
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If it's windy you could try put something on the tripod as weight to help stabilize it. Any decent tripod will have a hook or loop or something to allow you to attach things to it.
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Any tips?
And the moon, of course, but that was behind enough cloud that it couldn't autofocus.
Linear Mode
