[Technical issues/Rejection] Looking for some input to better understand what images are allowed

[Paul.Merkulov]

Hello. I tried to upload a single image for a test and it was rejected. but it is not immidiately clear what is the issue. In the attached image, swans and the pond are in focus, whatever is in front of the camera is not, which is by design. Nothing is too bright or too dark. What other possible issues I should be aware of?

[Abambo · Accepted solution]

First general composition: the foreground is disturbing, especially on the swan.

Second white balance: I think the white balance should be warmer. The swans have a bluish tone.

Third: you have colour fringing at the background  and you have some noise.

Fourth: there are recognizable people in the frame. You will probably need a model release.

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

[Paul.Merkulov]

I certainly missed the aberration issue here
Noise is a hard problem. Any noise removal is a tradeoff between noise and details. I think the noise here is insignificant enough to be worth removing.
Agree about people. I thought they are far enough not to matter but it looks like it is better to make photos without people at all to be safe.
Swans are blue-ish indeed. this is due to blue sky reflecting from the water. Making them warm also makes the whole scene less realistic. Not sure what to do here.

[jacquelingphoto2017]

Hi @Paul.Merkulov,,

The white balance of this image is truly out slightly. It does has a blue cast. 

The photo is underexposed. The underexposure causes more noise. As it is here, it is excessively noisy. Have you ever seen a full size noisy photo in print? If not try printing this one.

Adobe does not accept images with noise and they have accepted millions. It thus means that the noise trade-off theory floating around on the Internet is not a valid reason for submitting noisy photos. Adobe has Photoshop and Lightroom that are good apps for correcting noise and restoring some sharpness. Therefore you will not expect them to accept noisy images.

This photo is out of focus and so you are correct when you say correcting the noise would affect it adversely. However, in any case out of focus images are not acceptable. 

And yes blur in the forefront and out of focus are technical issues.

Frankly at a glance, without going into details, this photo is definitely not suitable for stock. It definitely will not sell.

Best wishes

JG

Photographer and Nutrition Author

[Paul.Merkulov]

Please clerify what is "out of focus".
The object at the forefront must always be in focus?
Technically camera is focused on the swans and the image could not be any sharper no matter which direction I would turn the ring

[Paul.Merkulov]

Or rather. If i want to make a shot of the whole pond, where should I focus?

[jacquelingphoto2017]

Hi @Paul.Merkulov,

I can see you have an eager interest to learn the craft. That is good. I also observe that there is a lot you need to learn that we cannot offer here. 

First you will need to take a look at the Stock Contributor Guide and also see what customers are looking for.

Also look at some tips to get your photos accepted.

You require a course. There are some tip here of all the basic requirements for stock photography.

However, there are some excellent courses by Ben Long at LinkedIn Learn that you'll benefit from.

Zoom in on your photo at between 100% and 200% and inspect the entire photo and you/ll see where's not sharp.

Best wishes

JG

[jacquelingphoto2017]

Hi @Paul.Merkulov,

You needed to zoom closer to the swan so as to exclude the plants in the forefront, or go closer to take your shot between the plants, or focus on the plant with adequate depth of field. Everything in the forefront must be in focus.

Best wishes

JG

Photographer and Nutrition Author

[Paul.Merkulov]

Thanks for your reply. The plants at the forefront is not a technical issue. The shot was made so that they appear like this on purpose.

[RALPH_L]

In addition to what @Abambo said, I think the swans need to be better focused.

I also agree with @jacquelingphoto2017 that you need to zoom in.

[Paul.Merkulov]

I certainly like zoomed-in image but isn't this is somehtning any potential customer can do in like one click by cropping extra stuff?
Or you mean "next time, when shooting something like this, adjust focal length in such a way that camera can see something like the image I posted"?

[jacquelingphoto2017]

@Paul.Merkulov ,

I believe @RALPH_L did this crop to show you what it would look like if you had done as one of my suggestions - that is, to zoom in on the swans.

Best wishes

JG