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First 4 photographs failed QC


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Wow I now feel even more horrible after reading posts where people don’t fail the QC often and on my first outing starting out all 4 of my photos fail (also the fact that Alamy says "70% of first submissions pass"). That’s a huge blow to my self-confidence as a budding photographer and I was hoping that anyone could help and tell me why my photos failed. I guess I just don’t know what to look for when checking my images. I did look a the QC failed reasons but that didn’t help.


 


So the first image (DSC05035) got a interpolation artifacts and compression artefacts reason. The second and third image (DSC06342 & DSC04525) got a compression artefacts reason. The last image (DSC05062) got a interpolation artifacts reason. I want to learn from my mistakes and create great photos, so I hope everyone can help me out.


 


https://www.flickr.com/photos/137754526@N08/albums/72157668285591172(I know that these photos cannot be view at 100% but I don't know how to upload photos to be viewed at 100%. I know to critique photos you need to be able to view it at 100% so if someone could tell me how to do this I would fix it.)


 


These are some of my questions about the said photos.


 


All of my photos were RAW format converted into JPEGs from Lightroom at 100% quality with a resolution of 240 pixels per inch, so I don't understand how there were any compression artefacts. My issue with interpolation artifacts is that I don't think I understand the concept of it at all so I don't know what to fix. The digital aspect of photography in general confuses me so the critique I go is frustrating just because I don't know what to fix. Sorry if my question is long and confusing. I'm new.


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You have some very interesting images (I particularly like the foxes), so it would definitely be worth working out the technical issues.

 

Interpolation is explained here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/image-interpolation.htm.

 

If you aren't enlarging, adjusting perspective or otherwise distorting the images, I'd wonder what photo equipment you're using, size of sensor chip, etc.

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Yes, what camera are you using? 

 

You have set the resolution to 240 ppi - this doesn't really matter at all as it is only a default printing resolution that will easily be changed by the user, however, the standard value most use is 300, which I often set. It doesn't matter - and hasn't anything to do with your problems. After what you describe they seem to be camera related if you have converted from RAW without any upsizing or other deteriorating operations or settings. 

 

About showing the images at 100% - see the replies in your thread where you ask about about this. Many use online services. I, myself, just upload the image to my site, and the URL will be the domain name, any subdirectory and the image file name. This will give a full resolution without any filters online services may apply  - most browsers will show a smaller size fitting the window - and a click will enlarge to 100%.

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Wow I now feel even more horrible after reading posts where people don’t fail the QC often and on my first outing starting out all 4 of my photos fail (also the fact that Alamy says "70% of first submissions pass"). That’s a huge blow to my self-confidence as a budding photographer and I was hoping that anyone could help and tell me why my photos failed. I guess I just don’t know what to look for when checking my images. I did look a the QC failed reasons but that didn’t help.

 

So the first image (DSC05035) got a interpolation artifacts and compression artefacts reason. The second and third image (DSC06342 & DSC04525) got a compression artefacts reason. The last image (DSC05062) got a interpolation artifacts reason. I want to learn from my mistakes and create great photos, so I hope everyone can help me out.

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/137754526@N08/albums/72157668285591172(I know that these photos cannot be view at 100% but I don't know how to upload photos to be viewed at 100%. I know to critique photos you need to be able to view it at 100% so if someone could tell me how to do this I would fix it.)

 

These are some of my questions about the said photos.

 

All of my photos were RAW format converted into JPEGs from Lightroom at 100% quality with a resolution of 240 pixels per inch, so I don't understand how there were any compression artefacts. My issue with interpolation artifacts is that I don't think I understand the concept of it at all so I don't know what to fix. The digital aspect of photography in general confuses me so the critique I go is frustrating just because I don't know what to fix. Sorry if my question is long and confusing. I'm new.

 

 

To be honest, if you don't have a good understanding of the technical aspects of photography and what each of the Alamy quality criteria mean then you are going to find submitting to Alamy a dispiriting and frustrating experience. My advice would be to concentrate on improving your knowledge and skills first before sending images to Alamy. Although, ultimately, producing striking and unique images is what will lead to sales, you won't even get those images through the QC gate if you don't get the technical aspects right. 

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Your images look great to me, they are sharp and clear and the processing looks good.

 

I wonder if you have the export settings in Lightroom set to upscale the images, which could be the cause of the artefacts? I don't see any artefacts on the images you posted but obviously I cannot see them at 100%, plus a site like Flckr probably processes them and lowers the quality anyway.

 

So to start with, look at the resizing option in Lightroom when you export and make sure you aren't adjusting the size to larger than the original.

 

Geoff.

As Keith said maybe I do need more experience in the technical aspect of photography (or computers in general) since I understand in theory what you are saying about upscaling, but I have no idea how to tell what it is in my export settings practically. I have tried to do some research online about upscaling/downscaling images through Lightroom, since is has to do with the quality of your pictures, but I just got confused with what I was reading. Can you tell me what the setting would look like in Lightroom if my exports were set to upscale? 

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Yes, what camera are you using? 

 

You have set the resolution to 240 ppi - this doesn't really matter at all as it is only a default printing resolution that will easily be changed by the user, however, the standard value most use is 300, which I often set. It doesn't matter - and hasn't anything to do with your problems. After what you describe they seem to be camera related if you have converted from RAW without any upsizing or other deteriorating operations or settings. 

 

About showing the images at 100% - see the replies in your thread where you ask about about this. Many use online services. I, myself, just upload the image to my site, and the URL will be the domain name, any subdirectory and the image file name. This will give a full resolution without any filters online services may apply  - most browsers will show a smaller size fitting the window - and a click will enlarge to 100%.

I am using a sony a6000 camera if that helps.

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Yes, what camera are you using? 

 

You have set the resolution to 240 ppi - this doesn't really matter at all as it is only a default printing resolution that will easily be changed by the user, however, the standard value most use is 300, which I often set. It doesn't matter - and hasn't anything to do with your problems. After what you describe they seem to be camera related if you have converted from RAW without any upsizing or other deteriorating operations or settings. 

 

About showing the images at 100% - see the replies in your thread where you ask about about this. Many use online services. I, myself, just upload the image to my site, and the URL will be the domain name, any subdirectory and the image file name. This will give a full resolution without any filters online services may apply  - most browsers will show a smaller size fitting the window - and a click will enlarge to 100%.

I am using a sony a6000 camera if that helps.

 

 

I am not a great Sony user myself - but from this it should be okay, I think, http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/3518-any-more-on-the-sony-a6000/

 

Then there is the question about the lens - but a lens problem would normally create focus problems instead..

 

I am sure the dedicated Sony people will comment, and even more sure that you will find a solution to your problems in your Lightroom settings.

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Your images look great to me, they are sharp and clear and the processing looks good.

 

I wonder if you have the export settings in Lightroom set to upscale the images, which could be the cause of the artefacts? I don't see any artefacts on the images you posted but obviously I cannot see them at 100%, plus a site like Flckr probably processes them and lowers the quality anyway.

 

So to start with, look at the resizing option in Lightroom when you export and make sure you aren't adjusting the size to larger than the original.

 

Geoff.

As Keith said maybe I do need more experience in the technical aspect of photography (or computers in general) since I understand in theory what you are saying about upscaling, but I have no idea how to tell what it is in my export settings practically. I have tried to do some research online about upscaling/downscaling images through Lightroom, since is has to do with the quality of your pictures, but I just got confused with what I was reading. Can you tell me what the setting would look like in Lightroom if my exports were set to upscale? 

 

 

I cannot see Lightroom from the PC I'm using at the moment, but I'm assuming you used the Export option at the lower left of the Lightroom main window to change the RAW images to JPGs? Assuming you did, then there are options there for resizing. Simply don't use them, just leave them un-ticked. From memory, the only options you need to set in there are the folder location you want the exported image saved to, the format and quality to use (jpg at highest quality). I think you can leave the rest alone.

 

Geoff.

 

Its actually funny that you say that. Before I received the QC fails the only thing I ever touched in the Lightroom export option was the folder location. I actually didn't know I could scroll down and play with the resizing stuff until now when I was trying to fix whatever was wrong with them. At least now I know not to touch those.

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You definitely shouldn't be discouraged as you have a good eye for a picture but, as Keith says, you need to learn some more basics of photography before you start submitting here. That includes post-processing which is as fundamental nowadays as taking the shot. Alamy is about selling images and you need to be able to consistently produce images which are of a technically professional quality to contribute. If you want to pass the initial QC, then submit 4 simple pictures which demonstrate that you can do that - they don't have to have any artistic merit. If you want realistic feedback, then you have to provide samples at 100%, as it simply isn't possible to judge at the size you have posted in that link. People have used Photobucket for this purpose.

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You definitely shouldn't be discouraged as you have a good eye for a picture but, as Keith says, you need to learn some more basics of photography before you start submitting here. That includes post-processing which is as fundamental nowadays as taking the shot. Alamy is about selling images and you need to be able to consistently produce images which are of a technically professional quality to contribute. If you want to pass the initial QC, then submit 4 simple pictures which demonstrate that you can do that - they don't have to have any artistic merit. If you want realistic feedback, then you have to provide samples at 100%, as it simply isn't possible to judge at the size you have posted in that link. People have used Photobucket for this purpose.

Oh so you are saying if I upload to photobucket others would be able to see my photos at full res? 

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So with the great advice from MDM I posted the pictures to Photobucket. I think they are out of order on Photobucket so the 1st picture (fox) got a compression artefacts fail.  The 2nd picture (cityscape)  got a interpolation artifacts fail. The 3rd picture (rocky beach) got a interpolation artifacts and compression artefacts fail. The last one (lake) got a compression artefacts fail. 

 

http://s897.photobucket.com/user/souji5okita/library/?sort=3&page=1

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The one of the fox may be unsharp, but it's hard to judge because the main problem is overcompression. Those files are 2-3MB. What jpg quality are you using?

My 4000px downsizes are never less than about 4MB. Your 6000px should be around 8-12, I would have thought.

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The one of the fox may be unsharp, but it's hard to judge because the main problem is overcompression. Those files are 2-3MB. What jpg quality are you using?

My 4000px downsizes are never less than about 4MB. Your 6000px should be around 8-12, I would have thought.

I was told that before and I have no clue how I am over compressing them. These are the step I take from camera to post-processing. Is there a step I'm missing or doing wrong?

 

1) Copy RAW files from the camera to a file folder (RAW files are around 25 MB)

2) Import said RAW photos into Lightroom.

3) Clean up the image (maybe crop slightly)

4) Go to the export menu (the only things I touch here are file settings (JPEG 100% quality) and  export location)

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So I may have been wrong. Before I got the QC fail I never paid attention to anything in the export menu except for the export location and that it became a JPEG. I am not sure what the quality was then, but now that I re-exported the files they are between 9-16MB so something changed. This may have been one of my problem all along, so I will upload the newer version to photobucket shortly.

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I would suggest just move on and start again - try simple pictures which demonstrate you know what you are doing for starters - Alamy QC don't care about artistic quality. Try a portrait, a picture of a building etc in simple lighting. It's not possible to judge your basic ability with a camera from those pictures.

 

I think a big problem here is in post-processing, clear from what you say. I would recommend you get a book on LR - the Scott Kelby one is available on Kindle for not a lot of money and you would learn all you need to know from that. Or there is the Lightroom Queen.

 

Most importantly, learn the basics before trying to sell pictures. There is no hurry to sell. I think you will be a good photographer when you do that.

 

EDIT - I mean move on in relation to what you submit to Alamy.

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It's not too difficult to mis-click in the export dialogue. I did it by accident a while back and it cost me a month in QC limbo because I'd added a watermark.

 

It is best to create export presets so you don't go near the dialog except for when you create the preset.

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Thank you everyone for all of your help I really appreciate it. I have decided to use these 4 images again to see if I can pass now that I fixed the problem. If they don't pass then I will just use normal photos like MDM suggested. Sorry if my questions were obvious/stupid. Still learning here. Even though it did hurt having the pictures fail, I have learned so much more about post processing these past 2 days trying to fix the pictures. I can now see things (compression blur) I couldn't before.

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Ooh, I didn't know about that. How do you do it?

Edit- got it. Thanks, MDM.

No problem. I'll post it anyway in case somebody else benefits.

 

Just go into the Export dialog, set it as you need it and click Add at the bottom.

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You still may want to check your pictures at 100% to ensure they meet the QC criteria. 

When I looked at the failed ones, I felt they may be slightly on the soft side - but that could also be caused by the technical issue you faced. 

 

I definitely like your compositions and wish you success with the next QC round. 

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Thank you everyone for all of your help I really appreciate it. I have decided to use these 4 images again to see if I can pass now that I fixed the problem. If they don't pass then I will just use normal photos like MDM suggested. Sorry if my questions were obvious/stupid. Still learning here. Even though it did hurt having the pictures fail, I have learned so much more about post processing these past 2 days trying to fix the pictures. I can now see things (compression blur) I couldn't before.

A few quick things. Export as AdobeRGB, not sRGB - far bigger colour space. The fox picture has really bad purple fringing. I would not resubmit that as it is. It is sharp on the snout as far as I can see but it's a borderline picture.  Easy on the clarity in the beach picture - 45 or whatever is waaay toooo high. While there is nothing wrong with motion blur, I would not be inclined to submit the two with a lot of blur as a first time, particularly the lake picture which has no sharp foreground.

 

Nothing you've said is stupid (although resubmitting these pics may be). Learning by mistakes is by far the best way to learn as one usually remembers these even years later.

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