Constructive criticism for a rejected photo

[Senara_Devasurendra7616]

Beginner photographer here. My photograph was rejected due to quality issues and I would like some contructive critisim on how to make it better the next time

[yamato7]

The dog's face is bright because the sun is shining on it, but its body is dark because it's in shadow.
The body is crushed and blackened.
At AdobeStock, blown-out highlights and crushed shadows are one of the reasons for rejection.

Why not try taking a photo so that the entire dog is in light or in the shadow?
There are already a huge number of dogs and cats registered, so even slightly bad photos will be rejected immediately.

[Senara_Devasurendra7616]

ohh ok thank you 😃

[daniellei4510]

Background is too dark. Although brightening it up reveals a slanted horizon and extraneous subject matter that add nothing of interest. Also, do a search for photographs of dogs on Adobe Stock and get a feel for your competition.

[Nancy OShea]

I like your dog, but apart from the lighting issues, he's very soft around the edges. This will make it hard for customers to mask him out and replace the background with their own image.  As Contributors, we need to think about things like this to appeal to a wider range of customers.

Also read your Contributor User Guide for more tips on what's required.

• https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/reasons-for-content-rejection.html
• https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/quality-and-technical-issues.html
• https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/user-guide.html/stock/contributor/help/photography-illustr...
• https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/how-to-submit-distinct-content.html

Good luck.

[Senara_Devasurendra7616]

Thanks 😃

[Ricky336]

Hello,

I think your composition could be improved, and you should also think about lighting and exposure.

Read these links from Adobe about composition and exposure.

Exposure:
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/exposure-in-photography.html
Composition:
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/photo-composition.html

There are a lot of pet photos, so in order to be original, you really have to think about how to make the pet stand out from the crowd!

[RALPH_L]

The dog is too dark. There is too much empty space. Objects show through the shadows. The photo needs sharpening. the horizon is not level. Details in the eyes are lost.
Here is what I think it should be processed to:

[ZALEZPHOTO]

Greetings Senara, 

Thanks for sharing your beautiful photo. 

Let me start with some facts, no one here knows how much human or AI, adobe is using today to evaluate new assets, what I do know with almost certainty, is that it is not the same they were using a couple of years ago... back to this later.

Another fact is that your photo is absolutely gorgeous! Yes you could have tweaked it a little, but those would be adjustments any buyer could make depending on the image final usage.

I suspect the black background triggered some algorithyn that automated the rejection.

I took a look at your photos metadata, and for a beginner I can see you did everything right. Perhaps you got lucky, or perhaps you're one in 100... people that from the begining have a clear sense that's able to be translated into a photo.

The majority of us are the 99%, we fell in love equally with photography, but our earlier shots were only great to us, with little to offer everyone else.

I'd like to encourage you with the last fact, 100% of new photogrpahers need to shoot shot shoot and keep shooting more.

As it is with any craft, the more we do it the better we get.

My best advice is to hear all opinions, thank everyone, and whatever doesn't make sense... flush it!

Just focus on continuing to getting better, being kind to yourself by understanding that not everything that you shoot

will be great.

As for this photo... let me say that I have been a commercial photographer for 30+ years, so I know a little about what I'm talking about. I did a search on: small dogs against black backgrounds and in the first 3 pages 70% or more were creepy perfect, fake and beautiful AI generated pixels.  And yes there might be a zillion other dog photos, but I can assure you none are like yours, and yours will stand out in any grouping.

 I suggest some minor adjustments to your photo:  brightten your subject a little, I'd use curves, add bit more contrast,

and use the burn tool to darken the top 1/3 of the image making the black solid. Then wait a week or two, and resubmit the photo at a different time you did the first time.

I am not recommending you do what I've done, but I've had multiple images that were rejected 1,2, and 3 times, then approved on the 4th.   

I'd love to see more of your work, so don't hesitate to sharing more with me.

COngratulations on your photo, and have an awesome weekend!