Were those 'amateur photos' taken out a car window with a phone? To be honest the difference between amateurs and pros is really not as clear as those images suggest - I've seen plenty of photos from good amateurs better than many pros, and plenty of boring unimaginative photos from pros too.

What the pros tend to be better at is consistency, but because they're relying on it to earn a living they often take less artistic risks (for example using faster shutter speeds to make sure the image is sharp, but losing the sense of movement and speed because of that) and don't try new things.