Skip to main content
D
davids3001064
Participating Frequently
January 14, 2017
Answered

Out of Focus

  • January 14, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 559 views

Uploaded the attached and it was rejected as "out of focus." Idea was that the birch tree in the foreground would be in focus and the rest a blur to set off the birch tree in the foreground. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer shashinjin

The entire image is out of focus. It's just that the bit of the birch you thought you had in focus is actually less out of focus than the rest of it. Here's a 100% crop to prove it:

For stock photography, your work needs to be sharp as a craft knife. This doesn't qualify. When I started out, this kind of stuff was my biggest issue. Still is actually and I often ruin great images because I didn't think through focus more.

Few other things:

  • If you want an image that says "birch" then you want all of the birch in focus.
  • For composition, eyes usually move left to right but you have your subject on the right with nothing leading to it. The eye starts with a blurred background and doesn't know what to do. So, this would probably be improved by being flipped around. \
  • This was shot, by the looks of it on an overcast day with your white balance on auto (go on admit it!) That's why the image looks kind of flat. It could do with the whites being lifted.
  • Finally, there's something strange going on with a pink blocky colour on the right. Not sure what's going on there...

3 replies

shashinjin
shashinjinCorrect answer
Participating Frequently
January 15, 2017

The entire image is out of focus. It's just that the bit of the birch you thought you had in focus is actually less out of focus than the rest of it. Here's a 100% crop to prove it:

For stock photography, your work needs to be sharp as a craft knife. This doesn't qualify. When I started out, this kind of stuff was my biggest issue. Still is actually and I often ruin great images because I didn't think through focus more.

Few other things:

  • If you want an image that says "birch" then you want all of the birch in focus.
  • For composition, eyes usually move left to right but you have your subject on the right with nothing leading to it. The eye starts with a blurred background and doesn't know what to do. So, this would probably be improved by being flipped around. \
  • This was shot, by the looks of it on an overcast day with your white balance on auto (go on admit it!) That's why the image looks kind of flat. It could do with the whites being lifted.
  • Finally, there's something strange going on with a pink blocky colour on the right. Not sure what's going on there...

D
davids3001064Author
Participating Frequently
January 15, 2017

Thank you. Appreciate you taking the time to look and comment. Dave.

S
sisithaw
Participant
January 14, 2017

May be because more prominent areas such as edges of the birch tree are out of focus. Also at full resolution the focused area of the birch tree looks a little blurred, probably due to low resolution setting of the camera.    

R
RBChauDavis
Participating Frequently
January 14, 2017

Part of the birch is also out of focus.  Composition drives my eyes to the unfocused region,  This could be due to  the whiteness of the birch and the horizontal lines sending me over to the more colorful but unfocused area.  I would look for a feature on the birch to trap my eye and prevent it from drifting over the birch, the blurry area and finally off the page.

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices