Critique of rejected image for technical issues

[MaggieAoD]

Hi everyone. I'm not new to photography but I'm just starting out in the world of stock photography. My speciality is black and white, moody, dark architectural images but demand for this kind of stock imagery is low. Bright colours and light are a little outside of my comfort zone but I'm trying 😄

I had this image rejected for technical reasons and I've mooched around this site figuring out what that could mean. I think this may be overprocessed and not as sharp as it could be but I'd really appreciate any feedback or criticism. I'm here to learn and welcome any suggestions on how I could improve this (or give up on it!)

File ID: 378962165

Thanks!

[Abambo · Accepted solution]

The image is to dark, histogram is not equilibrated:

It's missing a whole part of tones. Also, I would say that the white balance tends to much to the blue.

I see chromatic aberration and yes, it could need a push of sharpness.

The water to the right seemed to be colour clipped too, but that also may be a false impression.

And personally, I do not like the image composition. I won't buy this image because of the pier, as it is not really nice, but for the sailing boats, they are "only" in the background.

And yes, stock photography is a lot about producing clean and nice images, with natural looking colours and an equilibrated histogram and very low noise level. It's not about producing those nice looking artistically interesting low key or high key black and white images. That's what eventually the buyer will do depending on his use. The buyer needs all the options, as you do not know about the specific use.

It is, however, possible to submit heavily processed images, if the result is a natural looking picture...

[MaggieAoD]

Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such excellent and much-needed feedback. I really appreciate it and will take it all on board when considering which images to submit in future, and also which images to take! 🙂🙏🏻

[Abambo]

You're welcome.

[Nancy OShea]

Have a look at what other Stock Photographers are submitting in the same keyword categories.

For example, Marina, pier, lamp post.

Reviewers are looking for great quality and wow factor!  I think you have what it takes.  Keep working at it 🙂

[MaggieAoD]

Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I'll do exactly that. It's difficult to train a brain looking for edginess and slight discomfort to the complete polar opposite 😂  I like a challenge though!