why do my plane shots keep getting rejected with "grainy, soft"?

[biggerben]

RancerDS: I couldn't agree more. here are my only two that got accepted:






altitude604: nice shots! maybe I'll get the 80-400mm zoom for xmas and then also finally get another pic accepted

 

[gsgary]

Was the shot underexposed and retreived in post

 

[biggerben]

Was the shot underexposed and retreived in post

yeah, a little. probably a cause for some of the graininess!

 

[biggerben]

Wow, i got accepted. Did an auto white balance, sharpened it some more and denoised it



click to see it in big!

thanks a ton for the help guys!

 

[Bluepoole]

Biggerben, try shooting at the lowest ISO possible (80 or 100, I don't know the Nikon cameras so well).

I know that every setup (camera & lens combination, etc) is different and will produce different results, but here is what I do, maybe some of the information will assist you. I have over 460 photos accepted on Airliners.net, which is (as you may know) the top aviation photo site on the web, with even more strict standards than the others like Jetphotos or Planespotters. With an acceptance ratio of 94%, I must be doing something right...

I never shoot in RAW, only in JPEG, and I shoot in Program mode 90% of the time (see my signature for the equipment I use), unless I want a slower shutter speed to capture the prop disc on a turboprop aircraft, then I use Tv mode. You could shoot in RAW, but it is extra work, and since it is a hobby for me, I do not want the extra work - I leave that for my wedding shoots.

My ISO is on 100 or 200, depending on how light or dark it is.

Post processing is done in Photoshop, I obviously adjust contrast levels and saturation if needs be, then crop the image, sharpen it with the "Smart Sharpen" filter function in PS, most of the time by a factor of 100, then do a noise reduction with value 8. I then resize and save with maximum quality.

And even then not every shot is gonna get accepted - one screener likes softer images, the other one likes sharper images...

Good luck, and don't give up!

 

[Shockey]

Are you cropping the originals.
A large crop will cause the problems you are having.

 

[biggerben]

Biggerben, try shooting at the lowest ISO possible (80 or 100, I don't know the Nikon cameras so well).

The possible ISO values on the D90 range from 200 to 3200, plus "L" und "H" which would be equivalent to 100 and 6400 but are not recommended

With an acceptance ratio of 94%, I must be doing something right...

WOW WOW WOW
that's insane, massive complements!

Good luck, and don't give up!

I won't

thanks for your comment I found it very informative!

 

[robertwsimpson]

do you get paid for shots like that or do they just go onto those sites?

 

[biggerben]

Are you cropping the originals.
A large crop will cause the problems you are having.

obviously I cropped it a bit (you try and take a shot of an approaching jet with a couple of pixels to spare each end ), but not excessively

 

[biggerben]

do you get paid for shots like that or do they just go onto those sites?

no, you don't get paid.

it is however an good way to learn how to take good (plane) photos!

 

[biggerben]

wow, another one just got accepted:


ok, that's the last link to plane shots I post here, I promise