Need some insight as to why this photo was rejected on technical issues

[DavidSerranoDesign]

I am new to stock photography so I am still learning about what to post.  This photo was rejected on technical issues.  Can someone explain why so that I can avoid this in the future?  Thanks in advance!

[Jill_C]

Definitely underexposed, and perhaps a bit of soft focus, though I can't be certain due to the small file size. Look at the histogram; you will see nothing at all on the right side...

[RALPH_L]

Underexposed, to cold and it needs to be cropped horizontaly.

[DavidSerranoDesign]

Why does it need to cropped horizontally?  Is that a preferred crop?  The photo was taken vertically.  Should I avoid that?

[jacquelingphoto2017]

Hi @DavidSerranoDesign ,

Your crop is fine. It is recommended that you do a landscape and a portrait crop since customers might have preference for either or both. Your depth of field is a bit off, but not much. I am not sure if it is enough to earn a rejection. Also there seem to be a small amount of color noise showing on the head in the forefront. I suggest you correct the white balance, and the color noise and try resubmitting and see what happen.

Best wishes

JG

Photographer and Nutrition Author

[Abambo]

If you look at @RALPH_L's crop, he cropped the poles out. I'm not certain if the poles lead to a refusal, however.

When taking pictures for stock look to get portrait and landscape pictures of the same motive. It will help your sales. I even sometimes add square ones. People buy what they love seeing, not exactly what is the bast resolution. My square ones are obviously either portrait or landscape pictures, cropped.

[Abambo]

Looking at the histogram, you will see that it's missing whites (right part) and blacks (left part).

This makes the overall look dull.

[Abambo]

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

[Nancy OShea]

There's no color vibrance.  It looks like your camera sensor went into overdrive trying to compensate for all that direct and reflected sunlight.  When lighting conditions are challenging, I like to take several shots at different exposure settings and angles.

BTW, it's nice to see the sea lions making a comeback after the "killer plankton" outbreak.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/ocean-heat-waves-pacific-s-deadly-blob-could-become-new-norm...

[J E L]

It's a great subject matter but the image is just too blah. A lot of images are rejected for technical reasons but assuming your work is technically sound, before submitting your images—in fact, before taking the picture in the first place—try to think about who would want to license the shot and for what specific purpose. Is the photo perfect for a magazine cover, an editorial or conceptual blog post, a beautiful travel brochure, a textbook? Maybe the image is best as a background or graphic element. Does the framing leave negative space for type? Does your photo have a specific, identifiable color pallet or a dominate color? Would it make a good (or too difficult) jigsaw puzzle? If it was on a wall calendar would you want to look at it for 31 days? Great stock shooters can “see” their image being used in a specific application or two. Try to think about this so you will be more selective in what you submit. Keep shooting!