In 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß Quality Control we see a lot of images from newer contributors that fail for these reasons. With just a few pointers these images can pass QC and be available for our customers to buy. Here are a few tips to bring your images up to spec.
Soft and Lacking Definition
Soft and lacking definition has always been our most common failure reason, it is used for images that lack a defined area of focus. Images from unsuitable cameras tend to fail for this reason, but it often occurs in images that are slightly out of focus. Often the image will look absolutely fine on a smaller scale, so always check your images at 100% to make sure your in-focus areas are sharp.
Noise
This often occurs in low-light photos when a higher ISO is needed to get a correct exposure. Depending on your camera, you might be able to get nice, clean images at a higher ISO than others. We’d recommend playing around with your camera in different light conditions with different ISOs to get an idea of reasonable noise. If you see noise getting into your images, consider using a tripod so that you can get a longer exposure, keep the ISO down and create noise-free images.
An image would fail for noise if it is noticeable when viewed at 100%, so make sure you keep an eye out for this when editing. Although it is a good idea to avoid noise when taking a photo, use of the Noise and Colour Noise Reduction tool in Lightroom can help reduce this. Be careful not to rely on this too much as it can soften your image.
Blemishes-Dust, Scratches or Sensor Dust
This can simply occur when dust gets onto your lens or sensor and is visible usually in photos with lots of sky. Make sure you keep your lens clean, and consider getting your sensor professionally cleaned every once in a while. If you do have dust spots in your images (they look like faint dark circles), you can use the Clone Stamp tool in Photoshop to remove them.
Camera Shake
If your shutter speed is too low, images can show blur created by movement (by you or the camera) during the exposure of a photo. As a general rule, keep your shutter speed above 1/60th of a second, so that your exposure is quick enough to reduce any body movement.
This rule needs to be adapted if you are using a telephoto lens – long lenses are ‘more zoomed in’ and can capture even more body movement so need a faster shutter speed to reduce it. We’d recommend a shutter speed twice the length of your lens. E.g. for a 200mm lens try and get a shutter speed of 400-500th of a second.
If you want a longer exposure, make sure you use a tripod to avoid any camera shake. A good tip when using a tripod is to use a remote shutter release or the timed shutter function so that there is no movement by pressing the shutter button. Make sure you switch off Image Stabilisation on the lens if using a tripod as this can introduce shake over a long exposure. You could also use your camera’s mirror lock-up function as even the mirror moving in a DSLR can cause movement.
Hopefully these tips will help you to improve your technique, and to contribute high quality and saleable images to 17³Ô¹ÏÔÚÏß. For more detail and information about other failure reasons check out our How to Pass QC pdf.