PHOTO: Shoes. Bad Lighting

Hy there!


I'm pretty new here with a very small portfolio.


I got this rejection and I would like to learn how to avoid it in the future.


It's a no-resubmit by the way, so it's really for improving my skills for te next photos to submit 


Here is the photo:


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/87775863/_IGP5654-2.jpg


Here is the rejection reason:


We found the overall composition of this file's lighting could be improved. Some of the technical aspects that can all limit the usefulness of a file are:

-Flat/dull colors
-Direct on-camera flash and/or flash fall-off (bright subject, dark background)
-Harsh lighting with blown-out highlights that lack details and/or distracting shadows
- Distracting lens flares
-Incorrect white balance


 


Thanks everybody in advance!!!


PS: could please any admin edit my post to make the link clickable... I didn't get it, sorry

(Edited on 2012-11-29 05:39:34 by ViewApart)

(Edited on 2012-11-29 05:40:09 by ViewApart)

(Edited on 2012-11-29 06:17:14 by kelvinjay)

Here you go http://dl.dropbox.com/u/87775863/_IGP5654-2.jpg



 

Your main subject is dark. Everything behind gets brighter and brighter as it gets more out of focus. This detracts from your main subject.

Something like this would probably be better if isolated on white; or with a carefully-managed darker background that does not attract the eye away from the subject.

The main shoes are reflective black. What we see of the subject in the photo is mostly bright reflections on the shoe rather than the overall shape of the dark shoe itself. Some contol on the reflections (changing angle, a polarising filter, changing the lighting if possible) may have helped to reduce the reflections on the shoe and have strengthened the shot.

Having said this, Whiteway's analysis still applies - the bright background is likely to distract from the subject in a shot like this.

(Edited on 2012-11-29 09:42:58 by esp_imaging)

Not only what they said above but you have some strong CA and what looks like camera shake.

A no-resubmit is likely because of distinct design (copyright issues). Otherwise it is not that bad. Next time focus on totally plain objects.

Thanks everybody for the answers!


Where is the CA? How can I avoid it?


In which point does it look like camera shake (it was on a tripod, ISO 100, f5.6, 1.3sec)?

It's most obvious as greeen and magenta fringes by the dark to light transitions at the bottom left corner.

Photoshop and other iamge editing problems have CA removal functions.

It doesn't look like significant camera shake to me
It does look vaguely artifacted in places as though there is some combination of sharpening and / or jpeg compression and possibly a bit of noise reduction, e.g. in the lining of the main shoe.