Would this pass QC?

[John Mitchell 4,972]

In my ongoing sincere attempts to understand Alamy's judgment calls, I would appreciate some expert opinions on this image. Would it pass QC in your opinion (unfair question, I know)? The hats are all in perfect focus, but the reflection in the mirror of the guy wearing a cap is fuzzy. What do you think QC would see as the main subject, the hats (in focus = pass) or the reflection in the mirror (not in focus = fail)?

 

Edited May 21, 2013 by John Mitchell

[Bizair 49]

Don't know how good your PS skills are, but this is one where the image in the mirror could be changed very easily to whatever your liked. I do a bit of such digital alteration. Just make sure once uploaded that you answer the digital manipulation question correctly. And I usually also annotate in the description the change made. For in instance in this case I would annotate something along the lines of "mirror reflection substituted for aesthetic reasons".

 

Ken

Edited May 21, 2013 by Bizair

[John Mitchell 4,972]

Don't know how good your PS skills are, but this is one where the image in the mirror could be changed very easily to whatever your liked. I do a bit of such digital alteration. Just make sure once uploaded that you answer the digital manipulation question correctly. And I usually also annotate in the description the change made. For in instance in this case I would annotate something along the lines of "mirror reflection substituted for aesthetic reasons".

 

Ken

 

Thanks, Ken. good suggestion. However, the reflection of the guy wearing the cap was the main reason I framed the picture the way I did. It was very much a grab shot. Anyway, I'm thinking now that this one is too risky for Alamy. I'm not keen on another trip to the "sin bin." Still, images like this present an interesting conundrum (to me, anyway).

Edited May 21, 2013 by John Mitchell

[yascha 1]

I'm not sure what QC would see but I think the main object is the hats and as long as they're in focus the pic will pass.

[Doc 2,138]

I'm not sure what QC would see but I think the main object is the hats and as long as they're in focus the pic will pass.

 

Agreed

[incamerastock 36]

Main subject is the hats but the guy in the mirror is incredibly distracting. Had he been sharp and perhaps wearing one of the hats on display (i.e. he's trying it on) then it would make a much stronger (saleable) image.

 

As it is, I think his reflection takes the eye away too readily. I'd digitally alter it and add a faked bg in the mirror.

 

J

[spacecadet 4,083]

I'd submit the one of the hats on their own.

[Phil Robinson 1,246]

Will pass. No doubt about that.

A little suggestion: I would add some extra blur (don't forget to add some extra noise as well to avoid the "plastic" feel) to the mirror reflection. A little unsharp usually looks like a flaw.

 

Cheers,

Philippe

 

PS: I would also remove the white spot in the guy's eye  

I agree. I am confident it would pass QC, but I would probably blur the mirror image a bit more, and spot off the white marks on the mirror. And maybe that telegraph pole (?) on the right.....

[Bryan 15,186]

I think it would pass without alteration, but....

 

Why not lighten the hats and increase both their saturation and contrast?  Makes them stand out as the obvious subject of the photo and, to my weary eyeballs, looks better on my screen!

[Ed Rooney 4,065]

I think it would pass without alteration, but....

 

Why not lighten the hats and increase both their saturation and contrast?  Makes them stand out as the obvious subject of the photo and, to my weary eyeballs, looks better on my screen!

 

A good suggestion, but I would not submit this image. A simple fact: our eye is drawn to the face in the mirror and that's out of focus. The subject is not important enough to risk entering the sin bin. 

 

As Clint Eastwood once said: "Are you feeling lucky, punk?" (Disregard the punk part.) 

[Richard Coombs 58]

For what its worth, I reckon its a pass.

[John Mitchell 4,972]

Ed, is that the same "Make my day" Clint Eastwood who now talks to empty chairs during presidential debates?

 

Thanks everyone for all the helpful suggestions, most of which I hadn't thought of. I'll give some of them a try. Personally, I quite like this image, warts and all, but I think that I might be better off submitting it somewhere else. Or, as Mark suggested, submit a "safe" one of the hats alone. It gets lonely in the sin bin.

 

BTW, I think it might could be beneficial to have a thread like this where contributors occasionally post images that they have doubts about (even after memorizing Alamy's submission guidelines). It could be a worthwhile learning experience IMO.

Edited May 21, 2013 by John Mitchell