dealing with rejection as a newbie

[defaultfrr5daqvtunq]

As a stock contributor of about 3 weeks - like many people here - my rejection notices are a fact of life with Adobe.

To date my experience is the first 5 photos rejected for tecnincal reasons (no details given - sound familiar?)

Then one of the moderators took a few minutes to tell me that my photos were too noisy and out of focus at high magnification!!! (Thank you Michelle!)

Well, armed with these 2 bits of info, and Photoshop Express I was able to minimize the noise (and get the focus fixed wit a tripod for steady shooting).

Now my next 6 have all been accepted.

It appears that adobe places most emphasis on these technical aspects of photo production and maybe less priority on composition.

Of course Adobe has an entire confusing and expensive eco-system of apps, tools etc. to sell so technicalities are its stock-in-trade... Just my opinion.

So... IMO, don't waste too much emotional energy looking for helpful answers, but:

1. Compose as well as possible in the camera to avoid cropping later - and get focus and exposure right

2. Use Photoshop Express (a free download) to fix noise and minor exposure issues

3. Submit lots of phots but take time to check these things in (1) and (2) before you hit "upload"

Oh, and hope Michelle sees your issue - and responds with a thoughtful and respectful response!

[Abambo]

As rejections may be disappointing for aspiring star photographers, if you read and follow the guidelines, you will experience only few rejections during your career. If you are new to stock, you should consider these resources: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/tutorials.html
Please read the contributor user manual for more information on Adobe stock contributions: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/user-guide.html
See here for rejection reasons: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/reasons-for-content-rejection.html
and especially quality and technical issues: https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/quality-and-technical-issues.html

BTW: Adobe stock is not a photography school and in most of the cases the rejection reasons are enough as soon as you are a bit experienced. Moderators have little time to spend for each picture, so if they would pass a lot of time giving you lengthy explications on why the asset gets refused, they would never be able to handle the workload.  As reasons are standardized, you also avoid translation problems.

If you want to know why your image could have been rejected, ask here. And you got great advice on your post  https://community.adobe.com/t5/stock-contributors-discussions/why-was-this-rejected/td-p/12339915. High magnification is probably 100%. When you look at your pictures, you need to check them at 100% and 200%. At 200%, you have an easier time to detect artefacts that are present in the picture, and that will limit the usability of the picture.

As you may use Adobe products to pimp your contributions, it is not required. You can also use competitor products.

As it is right to try getting it right in-camera, I often edit pictures before submitting to stock. If the focus is not right, however, you can forget the picture, as this is not correctable. Other issues can be corrected in limits.

Of course Adobe has an entire confusing and expensive eco-system of apps, tools etc. to sell so technicalities are its stock-in-trade... Just my opinion.

By @defaultfrr5daqvtunq

It's not that confusing: a photographer needs the Photography plan. But it's not with the contributors taking a subscription where Adobe makes its money. It's the standard customers, using Adobe products like the Creative Cloud all apps subscription to create those fancy adds you see everywhere, who also take a stock subscription who make Adobe's shareholders happy. Therefore, if you produce successfully high quality stock assets, that are sold a lot, Adobe even offers you different subscriptions...in addition to your part on the sales.

[ricky336 · Accepted solution]

It appears that adobe places most emphasis on these technical aspects of photo production and maybe less priority on composition.

Actually the composition is equally an important part - for Adobe it is also a technical issue.

Unfortunately, people understand technical issues in different ways, despite Adobe saying what they mean in their help guides.

[Jill_C]

My approach, and one I frequently suggest to newbies, is "go slow". I submit only 5-6 images at a time, wait for acceptance/rejection, fix those that are repairable and resubmit, then move on to the next batch. As a result, I was able to develop a more critical eye in evaluating my images before I uploaded them. Initially my acceptance rate was ~75%, but is now >95%. Though I now get few rejections for technical issues, IP violations are still difficult to predict. An image for the interior of the Denver, Colorado state capitol dome was accepted, and then a few weeks later another version of it was rejected for IP violation... Clearly, the Moderators aren't all on the same page!

[J E L]

@defaultfrr5daqvtunq I think you make some good observations but, as others have pointed out, you are only providing a partial answer to the larger aspects of stock photography. The notion that anyone with access to a shutter button and processing software is a photographer has sadly brought about the industry's downfall. As someone with deep experience in this field, I can assure you that technical excellence is the first hurdle but the next that is equally important is subject matter and the value of the content to the collection. It's been a general guideline from the start that 20 percent of the assets in a stock collection bring in 80 percent of the revenue. The rest that pass the first hurdle are there for volume and "just in case" someone needs a shot like this. The way to succeed is by delivering high-quality images that fit current trend demands or being great enough to start the trend yourself. Understanding stock photo buyers and keeping up to date with their wants and needs is another factor often overlooked by those trying to enter the field.