This may be a book for you. I feel the same way about watercolor floral, but the projects in this book are :chef's kiss:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944515585/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_7TJ41ZDC2YWFM3DDWZVV
I bought a coffee table book called 100 Suns with photos of U.S. nuclear tests and it's definitely a victim of this. I was quite disappointed with how they wasted a lot of the photos.
If you’d like to learn watercolor florals there’s a few books I can recommend on the topic. I really enjoy ateliers (art instruction books) to practice new techniques and even new styles, as well as learning all I can about my craft.
Here’s a great book for beginners with instruction on the different brush stroke styles for florals:
Modern Watercolor Botanicals: A Creative Workshop in Watercolor, Gouache, & Ink https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944515585/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_DN800MK45ADETM5NPK75
And this book has a more advanced, yet basic and easy directions for 50 different flowers, and I’m doing this now as a “50 days of flowers” for spring and keep me in daily watercolor practice, I believe the paper is heavy enough to paint right in the book, and even has outlines for each flower to practice on:
Watercolor the Easy Way Flowers: Step-by-Step Tutorials for 50 Flowers, Wreaths, and Bouquets (Watercolor the Easy Way, 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764362062/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_A1CVM7FAFAGFXZ3981H6
Those are all composite photos from the CGI guy behind the coffee-table picture book Full Moon
https://www.amazon.com/Full-Moon-Michael-Light/dp/0375406344
My theory about these is that "real" photos from the NASA Apollo catalog have been inserted into CGI rendered landscapes. It's sort of admitted in that book although they're intentionally vague about the exact process, for example were the landscapes 3D models to help create consistent lighting? Doesn't say.
Levelling your horizon will improve the shot somewhat. In this photo, there is foreground interest, but it fills the frame from top to bottom almost entirely. Anyway, practice makes perfect. And I highly recommend Bryan Peterson's book, Learning to See Creatively.
I'm not actually a full-on color guy, just an editor who does a lot of color work when necessary, but most of my knowledge comes from reading this book and just learning from trial and error working on lots of projects. Perhaps others can point you to more useful content.
I had already started working as a DIT (mainly RED tech, this was around the time that the Scarlet was released and they blew up as owner/operator cameras) and began doing looks on site for various reasons. I realized I enjoyed it and actually read a book that has acted as a lot of my basis for understanding and teaching myself about color grading - http://www.amazon.com/The-Technique-Digital-Color-Correction/dp/0240809904
So terrifying but beautiful.
If you enjoy this imagery and the history of this movement you should check out the collection pieced together by Michael Light's project 100 Suns
The book can be found here
enjoy
If anybody is really into shots like this, then I'd highly recommend picking up or checking out 100 Suns. Some really incredible and terrifying photos in there.