Photo rejected for technical issues

[HD_Gibbs]

This photo was rejected for technical issues, along with the rest of this sequence of a skier jumping off a cornice onto untracked snow. On the whole, I appreciate the feedback when my photos are rejected, because it helps me to improve. But in this particular case, I find "technical issues" to be somewhat vague and unhelpful.

I shot this using the exact settings recommended by a pro for ski photography - 1/1600 at f5.6 on a 5D Mark III - not too much room for improvement there, but maybe there was an issue processing the image? Any feedback would be appreciated! Is there a change I can make to have this photo accepted?

Thanks in advance.

[Szalam · Accepted solution]

What ISO were you using? Because your image is fairly noisy. I mean, I can see the noise even in the inline version. Clicking on it to view it full size really shows the noise. See?

This section of the sky (from the bottom-right) should be a fairly smooth gradient, but it's all noisy.

Also, look at the branches specifically. There is a lot of chromatic aberration or something.

Green and pink around the edges like crazy.

The snow has lots of contrast, so well done there, but the skier seems under-exposed and yet still noisy.

Look at him or her at full size, very noisy.

[HD_Gibbs]

Hey Szalam, thanks again - that's really helpful feedback, you're exactly right.

The image was shot at ISO 200 lol, so that's not the issue; the problem is the way I've processed it in Lightroom. Way too much post! I've just reset the develop settings and the image is sharp. I've learned a lot since I processed this photo, so I'll have another go and resubmit.

Cheers!