If your content submission was rejected with "Content does not meet our minimum quality standards," it may be because of one of the following issues:
Content is entirely out of focus
Content is unintentionally soft
Focal point is not on the subject
Unintentional motion or camera blur
Plane of focus continuously changes due to autofocus (video only)
Examples of unacceptable focus:
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The image is soft throughout and has no sharp focal point. At minimum, the doorknob and the keyhole should be in sharp focus.
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The area of sharp focus is located on the puppy’s body, when it should be on its eyes.
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Focus is on the bark of the tree when it should be located on the slug’s head and optical tentacles.
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In this example the focus issue is due to a combination of motion blur (moving subject) and camera shake (slow of a shutter speed).
The clip has a soft focal point that does not meet our standards and is unacceptable.
Examples of acceptable focus:
Young man listening to music on a smart phone. He is listening music on smart phone in the city by Ivanko80
The depth of field is narrow but the focus point is sharp and is located on the man’s eyes where it should be.
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Chocolate ice cream scoop by Gtranquillity
The depth of field is very narrow, but the focus is sharp on the front of the ice cream scoop and the ice cream.
Mountains and Reine in Lofoten islands, Norway viewed from the Mt. Reinebringen by Nick Fox
The focus is not razor sharp throughout the image, but the foreground elements and background elements are still within an acceptable range.
Clip by CaNiMagic
Shot with a shallow depth of field, it is appropriate for the focus to be on her feet in the foreground instead of her face.
Clip by IVSTOCK
Although the plane of focus shifts slightly, it follows the main subject through the frame.
Clip by Multifocus
The softness, white balance, and lens flare all work together to make a successful, authentic vignette.
Clip by Burlingham
Rack focus has been successfully executed by creating a smooth transition from focusing on the alarm clock to the man in bed.
We Recommend
Invest in a quality lens. Prime lenses, lenses that have a fixed focal length, are a great choice. They have fewer internal lens elements, which results in sharper content. Zoom lenses, lenses with variable focal lengths, are more versatile but have more internal components, which can result in softer focus.
Find your lens’ sweet spot by taking test shots to see which aperture produces the sharpest content. Every lens’ sweet spot will differ, but it generally can be found two spots above the widest aperture setting.
Keep the same distance between your camera and the subject when following the subject through the scene to maintain focus
Invest in a macro lens for close-up and detailed shots, such as food photography. Macro lenses can focus on objects that are very close to the lens.
Use a wide aperture for close-ups (f/2.8, f/4) to create a shallow depth of field, which blurs out the background and draws attention to the main subject.
Use a smaller aperture for landscapes (e.g. f/16 or f/22), ensuring everything from the foreground to the background is in focus.
When shooting people, place the focal point on the subject's eyes. The most beautiful portrait can be ruined if the subject’s eyes are not in focus.
Use a tripod to reduce camera shake.
For footage, if shooting on autofocus, be sure the focus setting is set to single area focus and not continuous to mitigate shifts in the focal plane.
Use a fast shutter speed (e.g., 1/250s or greater) to avoid unintentional motion or camera blur. The faster the shutter speed used, the less chance your subject will be blurry. A good rule of thumb is to ensure your shutter speed is greater than the focal length of the lens you are using.
Take multiple shots of your subject to increase the chances of producing a sharp image. This is especially important when shooting with a shallow depth of field to ensure the focal point is located in the appropriate location. After shooting, view your images at
100% magnification and discard any with focus or blur issues. Only submit the sharpest image from the set.
If you don’t understand the reason for the rejection of your images or if you need additional clarification, you can always contact contributor support.