Is over- or under exposure a judgement call or is the proof done automatically?

[aloisl52121148]

The following Picture has been refused, because "it's either over- or under-exposed".

It has definitely a big contrast (dark water, colourde trees and the first snow), an it is really bright at the top where snow and pale sky meet. But according to my understanding and according to the histogram inLightroom it is not under- nor over-esposed.

There might be other reasons for not accepting it (esthetic/Commercial value, ...).

Please let me know, if I am wrong or if I do oversee/misunderstand something, I wand to understand how stock-photography works!

Thank you, Alois

[jacquelingphoto2017]

That's a nice picture of the first snow. If you look closely on the photo itself, it appear a bit on the paler side. Sort of flat. The color of the trees for example, could stand out with more vibrancy. The right side of the histogram represents the light parts of the photo while the left the dark. Looking at the histogram most of it is centered, it tapers off at the left, while it has a peeks at the right. When taking photos, you need to pay attention to the picture on the camera's monitor and adjust until you see the best representation of the subject.

[ricky336]

I think the issue is that it is overexposed at the top. You need to bring in more detail to the sky area - the sky and the trees merge into one tone. Hence the peak in the histogram on the right. If you took this in raw, then you have a better chance of correcting exposure issues in post-production - the advantage of taking images in raw format.

[joanH]

Wow! you took on a difficult combination of things in one photo. Please take a bit of time and adjust this shot and resubmit. It is how we all learn about improving our work. Best regards, JH

[jacquelingphoto2017 · Accepted solution]

Note that aloisl52121148 rejection is exposure, not his composition. Exposure is what aloisl52121148 needs to work on for his landscape.

[joanH]

Yes, I think rickey336 spoke to this earlier. Specific areas of exposure can be adjusted without changing the entire picture. Camera raw is good but it might also help to use curves in Photoshop too. JH