looking for constructive feedback on why these were rejected and how to improve in the future

[Nyle3077762813sr]

"quality issues" was the reason listed for the rejection

[EzyRider_II]

Well yes. I was getting the same "umbrella" rejections lately too, until I stopped uploading : ). Problem solved!(?). I tend to believe Thai it means not so much the quality (technical) of my/your photo but Adobe hinting that there are already a million of this subject posted (,better ones than yours or mine) and no point in adding more. But this is just a hunch. To me your pelicans are a bit underexposed. And what is that bump on the beaks? The bee one is all right, just millions of better ones up there. (More details, etc.). And I do t think this is a commercially very lucrative subject. Just my 2 cents worth. But I agree! The "quality issues" is just way to vague and annoying "reason" to bump you off. 

[Nyle3077762813sr]

thank you.  the bump is part of the beak. it develops during mating season and falls off after they have mated and laid eggs. I appreciate your feedback

[Abambo]

But I agree! The "quality issues" is just way to vague and annoying "reason" to bump you off. 

By @EzyRider_II

Well, you should study the quality requirements. You do not give good advice here. The bee picture has noise, you see that with both eyes closed. The pelicans are probably underexposed. I will check that. But quality issues are real, and it's very rare that we can't find multiple issues on the pictures.

[RALPH_L · Accepted solution]

Both photos have too much noise and are too soft. The second photo the tree should be removed.

Noise reduction and sharpening are needed. This can be done in post production.

Please remember, Adobe Stock is not there to teach us how to make a perfect photo. They are there to market our photos. We must deliver a quality product or they can not market it.  This forum is provided to assist contibutors who may need assistance.

[Abambo]

Both photos have too much noise and are too soft. The second photo the tree should be removed.

Noise reduction and sharpening are needed. This can be done in post production.

By @RALPH_L

Noise reduction can be done in post-production, there are currently superb tools available. As for the focus or sharpening, that can't be corrected a lot. A picture needs to be sharp and can then be enhanced with carefully sharpening.

[Nancy OShea]

Sharpening is a mixed bag of tricks.  It can help as well as hurt a photo. 

You never get something for nothing.

[Abambo]

An image that is not sharp can't turn magically into a sharp one. A sharp image gets enhanced. Sharpness is a physical property of the lens. It does not make a difference here if the user just misses the focussing point, or if the lens cannot provide a sharp image, because of the lens quality.

That lack of sharpness cannot be recovered.

[Jill_C · Accepted solution]

Zoom in to 100-200% and the focus and noise issues become quite apparent. Look in the shadows of the pelicans where the chroma noise is obvious.

[Abambo]

Bee:

Very noisy and the bee is out of focus:

 I don't even see anything in focus. You could have opened the aperture quite a lot, to get the ISO down.

Pelicans: out of focus and noisy:

The histogram shows missing whites: