Is heavy photoshopping of corals-for-sale illegal ?

[Reef_Chief]

I'm sure there is many good online vendors but it seems to me to be too much BS to go through if I did get ripped off. I'd rather not take the chance and just go to my LFS and buy what I can see with my own eyes. It helps that I also have an amazing LFS pretty close to me.
I'll only buy dry goods online. Period.

I agree that some regulation does need bringing in but sadly like its been said, its just too easy to put a disclaimer and worm their way out of it.

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[ReefPharmer]

Disclaimers don't hold water if it's clearly and materially altered. Until someone takes this up the chain and wins, the internet sales will continue to "show the coral in the best light" or as others consider it: continue to PS the pic until it looks nothing like the original and we will continue to accept being bamboozled


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[karimwassef]

I think there should be a rule that coral pictures should be under direct sunlight only

 

[ca1ore]

It's not just sellers of corals, I see a lot of tank pictures that look nothing like anything I've ever seen in person - either captive or on wild reefs. I do agree that for those of us without photography skills and associated quality equipment, is is tricky to represent in picture what we see with our own eyes. In my build thread I attempted to jigger the pictures to be as representative as possible. Some more successfully than others, but in none of them was there the absurd blue push that I see in so many shots. Even for coral or frag swaps I typically bring a flashlight with me as the vast majority of the displays are blue lit. Daylight flashlight quickly cuts through the bull$hit.

 

[ReefPharmer]

Even for coral or frag swaps I typically bring a flashlight with me as the vast majority of the displays are blue lit. Daylight flashlight quickly cuts through the bull$hit.

That's a good idea. I think the real issue is that buying online, people don't have that option and sellers certainly do not offer a satisfaction guarantee on color. Some offer doa which is better than nothing but will tell you to pound sand re colors.
PS I have not been in this situation but I certainly see many threads complaining about color received vs color sold



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[duncanpate1]

Easily remedied, don't order on line!


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[tmantaylor18]

Buy from reputable sellers and you'll be fine. You can also purchase specific frags that you've already seen with your own eyes from those reputable sellers so you know what it will look like.

I use photoshop every time I take photos of my aquarium. If you don't the pictures will just be a big mess of blue shapes. :lolspin:

 

[outssider]

I have posted many pictures and sold a good number of frags on my local forum. Do I use PS? You betcha. Just enough to remove the overall bluish cast that reef lights generally have. I try to make them look as close to what I see with my own eyes as I possibly can.

how about turning the blues off and take the shot with daylight only !!!

 

[macdaddynick1]

Is heavy photoshopping of corals-for-sale illegal ?

how about turning the blues off and take the shot with daylight only !!!

That's technically as ""inaccurate"" as taking a photo with only the blue lights. Arguably, even more ""inaccurate"" because majority of the people actually run blues for some time without the whites on, in their tanks, whereas only a few people run whites only.

 

[nashorn]

We all talk about Photoshop pic including myself.
But..... I recently used the samsung s7 camera and now thinking maybe not photoshop but just adjustments to ISO aperture and WB.
I'm not a photographer but was able to take a few good pic.
Also funny the all look better on my phone then my laptop.
All the same frag. Think its a PC rainbow but not sure since I bought as a Joe the coral.
Radion at 100% blue,UV and V
<a href="http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/wlee94127/media/Mobile%20Uploads/081A047F-E3DF-443F-922A-26A645013CA6_zpseazfdjcl.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah114/wlee94127/Mobile%20Uploads/081A047F-E3DF-443F-922A-26A645013CA6_zpseazfdjcl.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 081A047F-E3DF-443F-922A-26A645013CA6_zpseazfdjcl.jpg"/></a>
Radion at 100% all LED
<a href="http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/wlee94127/media/36C8F52E-E179-4BAD-B74A-19D1E5989399_zpsjx1yyzks.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah114/wlee94127/36C8F52E-E179-4BAD-B74A-19D1E5989399_zpsjx1yyzks.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 36C8F52E-E179-4BAD-B74A-19D1E5989399_zpsjx1yyzks.jpg"/></a>

Radion at 100% all LED changes in ISO,Apputure and WB
<a href="http://s1378.photobucket.com/user/wlee94127/media/20170415_231800_zpsrb2hvf6t.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah114/wlee94127/20170415_231800_zpsrb2hvf6t.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20170415_231800_zpsrb2hvf6t.jpg"/></a>
WHat you would see from the front

 

[ReefPharmer]

White balance is one thing and is understandable, but adding saturation, increasing hues etc is not right imo. There should be some standard that we as a community demand and accept. I am not a pro photographer so I can't say what that standard is, but I have read / heard about white balance card place s in the pic for reference

 

[sde1500]

how about turning the blues off and take the shot with daylight only !!!

How is that any more accurate though? Most people don't run a white only tank, so then the picture would not be representative of what it would look like in just about anyone's tank.

Photoshop is certainly needed to a degree to adjust for how the camera handles all that blue light for sure. Though some retailers certainly go way overboard.

 

[Hal]

As with most things, I'm fine with it in theory as long as the seller discloses the type of lighting in the pic, the camera settings, and lists whatever they did in photoshop.

In practice, I won't buy anything when I see blue eggcrate. My tank viewing conditions don't look like that.

Ideally, all frags should be shot in natural sunlight as a baseline. Then shoot it again under whatever lighting conditions you claim is more "realistic".

 

[karimwassef]

Ideally, all frags should be shot in natural sunlight as a baseline. Then shoot it again under whatever lighting conditions you claim is more "realistic".

A true objective measure - sunlight!

All cameras are designed to faithfully reproduce in sunlight.

 

[d2mini]

They'll look mostly brown under natural sunlight only, which is around 5500k.

I try to shoot around 12-15,000k.
To me this gives the most accurate colors and should satisfy the majority of people.

 

[WatDatThing]

They'll look mostly brown under natural sunlight only, which is around 5500k.

I try to shoot around 12-15,000k.
To me this gives the most accurate colors and should satisfy the majority of people.

Now that is a beautiful shot.

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[Balletomane]

Disclosure: I have a digital camera but don't have PS. I love the PS Disaster sites, more for shape distortions than color manipulation. I am blessed to have a LFS that is just fantastic, so I've never had a need to roll the mail order dice. As much as I long for the days when my old Canon SLR was everything image related. But even then.... At least annually camera mags would do side by side comparisons of images produced by Kodak, Fuji and Agfa films. Some really substantial difference among the products, especially reds and greens. So color issues have been with us a long time.

I will concede, though that some of the pix I've seen of Scolys and Zoas have been PS'd to a ridiculous degree. Caveat emptor.

 

[boyohboy2]

The longer the coral's crazy makeup name, the harder it's been PSed.

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[jccaclimber]

I'm still working through this thread so it may have already been stated, but displaying corals grown in low light with a high light setting for just a couple hours at a frag swap isn't great representation either. I often ask to turn up whites when viewing corals so that I can see what it will look like in my tank. I've actually had sellers get angry with me for leaving the whites up too long claiming I will damage their frags.

 

[billwill]

its not the hobby thats the wild west, its the internet, and the internet will always be the wild west, even more so if youre buying from private sellers and not major companies.

i suppose you could take it to court but wouldnt it be in the best interest of the courts time and taxpayers dollars if you just be careful who you buy from?

^what he said. Exactly.


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