Need advice

[Wander in Paradise]

Hi everyone, 

I am interested in why this image was refused. I am still in the learning process. 
I started shooting in raw recently and with manual settings. Then I edited the image with LrCm. 

Also which LrC features are better to avoid for a better chance poof pictures to be accepted? 

Thanks in advance

[Jill_C · Accepted solution]

White Balance is definitely too magenta. The image is not in sharp focus, which editing cannot fix. There is also chromatic aberration throughout. Most of the birds in the sky and in the beach are quite blurry, and indication that your shutter speed was too slow.

[Wander in Paradise]

Thanks for the helpful advice. Shutter speed at 2000 or standing in the water with wind (protected area). Any idea which one did the most damage in this case? 

[Jill_C]

A shutter speed of 1/2000 should have frozen the moving birds; perhaps the wind buffeting your lens created camera movement, or perhaps you're not able to hold the camera steady enough. Do you use a tripod?

[Wander in Paradise]

No, I don't, but I really start to see the importance of having one with me. Especially now wind season is here. Next month I'm in Europe, so I'll buy one. I'm too far out to order things online 😉 Thank you again for the advice, so helpful. 

[Abambo]

A shutter speed of 1/2000 should have frozen the moving birds;

By @Jill_C

The lens is the issue, well, besides the processing. At the borders the lens is becoming terribly bad:

[George_F]

Zooming into 100% on this photo is where you will spot the flaws that @Jill_C mentioned.  See my screenshot.

Also in the screenshot are the results I got with using the eye dropper white balance tool on one of the waves towards the left.  Not a perfect science as how white the wave is can be debated, but it removed much of the color cast from my perspective.

Don't get too discouraged with rejections, I think they are great opportunities to learn more about the process as well as grow our photography skills.  Cheers!

[Wander in Paradise]

Hi George, thank you for the advice. Much appreciated. I don't see any screenshot, but I don't get discouraged, I promise. I wasn't born to give up 😉 
I am really at the beginning of taking a hobby to a new level so I still have a lot to learn. But I live in Bora Bora and have great opportunities to make great pictures. Bit sad that this session might be wasted as it's so hard to get to that island. I'm just struggling with the settings still. There's lots of sun to work with lol. As a landscape photographer yourself, you have tips for the settings in these situations like shutter speed, aperture and iso? I read so many different things online. And what lens is best? Sorry for all the questions. 

[Ricky336]

Hello,

Better read this about Lightroom:

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-cc/tutorials.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/how-to/quick-tips-lightroom-classic.html

The photo is way too magenta as @Jill_C pointed out and the birds are too blurry to be accepted. I'm afraid you can't fix this one for stock!

[Wander in Paradise]

Ohm thank you so much. That might be very helpful indeed, although I think I still have a lot to improve in the photography itself.  Thanks for the help 🙂 

[Test Screen Name]

"Shutter speed at 2000 or standing in the water with wind..." You probably need to set up easier shots, because Adobe don't make any allowance for how difficult it was to get them; even a unique shot of an animal thought to be extinct would be rejected if it were not perfectly focussed or had blur ! Many tripods are waterproof , may be worth noting.

[Wander in Paradise]

It was a day trip, nothing big. Adobe is full of pictures from this island it was just a nice opportunity for me. But yes, I start to see the importance of not shooting 200 lucky shots but rather 20 very good steady shots with the right settings. So yes, when I'm in Europe next month, I'll buy a tripod. Thanks 🙂