Reasons for a reject - what do you think?

Hey guys, I have a problem, since I shoot with my Nikon 200-500 lens my pictures are much better in my opinion. Nevertheless I just get 80-90% of rejects on my picture and its always because the main object is not sharp or soft/blurred.

What do you think about the following pictures?

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-1/844052.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-1/843168.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/admin/photographer-editor.php?p=843167 <- this picture is soft and improperly lit

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-1/844061.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-1/844051.jpg

I would appreciate your help

thank you very much

Tobi

Hi Tobi

The Etihad and the de-icing shot definitely look soft to me and parts of the Lufthansa are also soft, especially the titles. I can't see the middle shot as the link doesn't work. However the United 777 looks fine to me - it's a really nice shot! I'm not an editor though and this is just my opinion.

I have also recently bought the Nikon 200-500 and really like the lens. I have submitted 18 shots taken with this lens but have only had 2 rejected, also for soft/blurred. What I have found is that some shots taken with this lens need quite a lot more sharpening than those taken with my 70-200 f2.8. It's not that the 200-500 is a bad lens, it's just that the 70-200 is so good! Initially I was worried that if I sharpened more than I usually do I would get rejections for over sharpened, but this has not been the case.

I think that if you were to sharpen your shots a bit more than you are used to, you will find that you won't get so many rejections.

Hope this helps and good luck,

Cheers, Richard

Tobias, pictures are softer than they could be ..

If you are shooting in RAW and using PS RAW converter then try convert picture in TIFF In Nikon ViewNX2 SW ( 16 bit) a then make postprocessing. I noticed that RAW converter in PS ( plugin) is not as good (sharp) as converter in ViewNX2. Maybe will help....

Thank you Richard and Igor

@Igor I tried the ViewNX2 Software on my computer but the performance of the software was just horrible.

@Richard I usually sharpen the pics in Adobe Lr 6. I mostly apply 30-60%.

The following pictures were rejected because they are "soft". I can't really understand why.

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-1/845935.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-1/845931.jpg

If you want I can provide some RAW shots

Best regards

Tobi

You can always try appealing these shots and a senior editor will take a look at them. Even if they don't get accepted, you should get some more detailed feedback on the reasons for rejection which is always helpful.

Although I do my RAW conversions in Lightroom, I've never really got on with the sharpening tools there and use the unsharp mask tool in photoshop which I find works well. Generally it's best to be selective and only sharpen the aircraft (not the sky). I tend to build up the sharpening gradually with a few passes until jaggies start to appear. If you do this on a layer, you can gently erase any jagged areas.

To be honest, it's worth trying a few different sharpening methods until you find one that works best for you - it's taken me years of experimentation to find a reliable workflow that works every time.

Kind regards

Richard

Tobias. There was probably misunderstanding. I have recommend you to convert RAW to TIFF ( 16 bit) in ViewNX2 only.

IMHO this converting is better ( sharper) then RAW converting with plug- in in PS. Posprocessing must be in PS or LR.

Dear Igor, thanks again,

I will try the conversion with ViewNX2 when I have a little bit more time (friday or saturday) What do you think about the NIK Collection for Ps/Lr? What about dfine?

Thanks for your time and help!

Hi Tobias,

I think that 85% of all attractive photos here on AP are edited in PS/Lr and filtered with NIK collection. You can't go wrong with it, actually that's all you need for editing any kind of photo genre. There are so many tutorials on YT so you can make your photos look great in a month with some practice.

I tried several other filters and software but IMO NIK rules for me.

Best regards,

Boytronic

Thank you Boytronic,

I just tried a few first steps with the NIK collection. Let´s wait for the screeners opinion. I guess "Main Object not sharp/soft" ;)

Hello, Tobias.

Try this video tutorial from this website editor Angelo Bufalino.It contains all the basic (and not so basic) steps to perform a good edit. Everything is very nicely explained with a very "affordable" language so it´s very easy to have a good amount of practice in short period of time. After mastering that workflow, you can try some variations in sizes, pixels radius, etc so you can make your own workflow that suits your style and likes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWEOlIhPeD0

Best Regards from Tenerife.

Hi Javier,

thanks for the answer. I will watch the tutorial when I am editing some more pictures this weekend.

Best regards

Tobi

Hey guys,

I just uploaded a few more pictures (edited in Lr6 wirh NIK collection) and every picture was rejected because "main object is not sharp"

Would you mind taking a look at these pictures?

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-2/853956.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-2/853952.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-2/853961.jpg

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/rejected-images/2017-2/853962.jpg

Hi Tobias,

I think the apparent softness may not be the software/app. You got the resolution, but some seem soft because of focus... what focusing technique are you using? Try using "Back button focus" combined with Continuous Focus on your Nikon. Do not rely on shutter button half-pressed.

Maybe this helps. I helped me a lot understanding and using this technique.

This is my opinion and you may of course disagree, but I thought I may throw a potential solution.

regards,

Cristian

Agree that the best video is Angelo's (I like the one with AA 737) to teach NIK. He also teaches how to use High Pass sharpening which is what i use. Although i am far from an expert, my rejections are usually not for over/undersharpening. Also agree with Mr. Parkhouse that you eventually fall into a sharpening technique that you feel comfortable with. I will say that unlike other aviation sites, the screeners here,IMO, are usually fair and usually right to some degree. I have learned a lot from my rejections and they've made me much better at PS.

Best