Looking for specific feedback on my unaccepted image.

[Richard William Smith]

I recently submitted my first two images to Adobe Stock. One was accepted and the other wasn't for reasons related to "Quality Issues". I am new to Adobe Stock and would like to have the rejected image critiqued with professional and constructive feedback on what might have caused this image to fail Adobe's review and expectations. I have attached the image to this post. Any help, advice, or feedback will be most appreciated. Thank you.

[daniellei4510 · Accepted solution]

I'm not sure what your point of focus was meant to be, but nothing in this image is sharp. Some of this may be caused by degradation of the image due to the sun in the background causing lens flare.

[Richard William Smith]

Thank you so much for replying. I appreciate you taking a look at it and giving me feedback. At least I now have a better understanding of where my mistakes are.

[Abambo · Accepted solution]

There are a lot of issues in this picture:

These are only some of them.

You used a small sensor camera to do a counterlight picture into the sunset/sunrise. That is very demanding for any sensor. Your camera was not able to capture the fine detail required for such a picture.

[Richard William Smith]

Thank you so much for replying. I appreciate you taking a look at it and giving me feedback. At least I now have a better understanding of where my mistakes are. I didn't realize that the camera sensor would have such a difficult time.

[Abambo]

Counterlight is dificult for any sensor, as the required dynamic is more that the sensor can do. The dynamic of a modern sensor is less than the human eye (and also less than the good old film cameras), so it's especially critical to get this done right. I use ND filters and a lot of patience to get the picture I want for something like this. My full frame camera allows me so much more creative freedom, and even so, it's a challenge that does not always works well. 

Adding more contrast would create a nice picture for social media, but it will still be unusable for general commercial use.

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

This is a user-to-user community, not Adobe.

As a rule, pointing your unprotected lens at the sun is a recipe for failure. It's also a good way to ruin your camera's delicate sensor.  It's not recommended without a lens hood or specialized filters to remove harsh sun glare.

Ideally, your light source should be above or slightly behind you, not directly in front of you.  Have you taken any courses in photography yet?

[Richard William Smith]

Thank you so much for replying. I appreciate you taking a look at it and giving me feedback. At least I now have a better understanding of where my mistakes are. No, I have not taken any courses in photography yet.

[Jill_C]

Noise, blur and chromatic aberration are the first issues that jumped out at me...

[Abambo]

(...) that jumped out at me...

By @Jill_C

Did you find cover or did it hit you...?

@Richard William Smith sorry for this, you can disregard my remark. I just loved the expression, as a non-native English speaker.

[Jill_C]

Haha - I was able to avoid any real harm.... 🙂 

[Richard William Smith]

I appreciate you taking a look at it and giving me feedback. I am scouring through all my original photos now to see what I can eliminate. 

[Jill_C]

Small sensor cameras can create images that look just fine on a small screen, but when viewed on a larger display and zoomed in, the limitations of the sensor become quite apparent.