Rant about Photos of Corals for Sale

[Stolireef]

:angryfire::angryfire: I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this way but...

If you are selling a coral and posting a WYSIWYG picture, please be honest and post your lighting and photographic information.

I spent some time this afternoon browsing some of the larger commercial coral seller's websites and it was really irritating trying to figure out what the corals would really look like under normal tank lighting. I'm not going to mention any names but when the white coral plug and the white sand have a distinct blue tint, something is up and, unless you're lighting your tank with a series of T5 actinics, the coral isn't going to look like that in your aquarium.

I've seen many gorgeous tanks lit by 20K Radiums and the sand doesn't have anywhere near the blue tint in the photos. Is white balance that difficult to manage (I can do it on my cell phone). Rather than showing us a bunch of neon corals, show us how beautiful they will look in our systems.

Interestingly enough, the hobbyist sellers do a much better job of honestly portraying their corals. Kudos to the hobbyists.

Rant done.

 

[Fishmommy]

yeah, I'm with ya.

 

[jam583]

It's like anything though .. cars .. houses .. you name it .. they Photoshop it, brighten it .. etc ..

 

[Stolireef]

It's like anything though .. cars .. houses .. you name it .. they Photoshop it, brighten it .. etc ..

You wouldn't do that to The David or Scream or the Mona Lisa. Just tell us what we're going to see. Show the coral to us in the light that is in the 'best' lit tank. Tell us what you think that is.

 

[billdogg]

I could not agree more! And that's why I only buy what I can see with my own eyes. That way it truly is WYSIWYG.

 

[jam583]

You wouldn't do that to The David or Scream or the Mona Lisa. Just tell us what we're going to see. Show the coral to us in the light that is in the 'best' lit tank. Tell us what you think that is.

If I take a photo on my SLR and do NOTHING to it .. but put on my high end monitor, it looks great. I look at on my standard dell monitor, colors don't pop. So many variables one needs to understand, it won't be exactly WYSIWYG.

The internet will only be able to depict it so good.

 

[johnike]

I feel your pain Stoli.
I got nipped on a chalice recently by a sponsor.

 

[gone fishin]

I just chalk it up to a risk of ordering online Vs. LFS. I assume they are going to place their product in the best possible light and conditions. I figure once it gets in my tank it will not look like the picture I saw. I do however expect it to be somewhat close though.

 

[billdogg]

I mean - who wouldn't buy these super extra rare designed palys for the low, low price of $1000/polyp???



Or, you can pretty much have as many of these as you want for the price of gas to my house. (I don't ship)



Just gotta love Photoshop!

 

[sponger0]

The fact is, photographing things in a tank isnt easy. Getting the colors you will actually see in person is very difficult to do.

Do it for yourself. Grab a camera. Take a photo of one coral. Youll notice the colors arent the same in the picture are your eyes. Unless you have a very high knowledge of photography, you wont be able to.

Alot of photos online are photoshopped. Lets also not forget that when they use LEDs alot of the corals colors are superimposed as oppsed to other lights. Hence why I dont like LEDs. It doesnt look right.

 

[ca1ore]

Sorry to say that anytime you buy a coral without seeing it in person it is caveat emptor. I suppose some online vendors may well be dishonest about the appearance of what they are selling, but it is also quite difficult to get an honest photograph. - I struggle to take good photos of my tank all the time. And it isn't just about what particular bulb is in use, it can also be what ballast. I've been quite surprised on occasion to see how different a 20K MH can look with different ballasts.

And it's not just the vendors. I look at many of the TOTM photos and think, wow, no wonder they won because my tank has never looked this colorful. Or have the colors been 'pushed' a bit. Got to see them in person really.

 

[johnike]

Sometimes you just get totally busted...

 

[gone fishin]

Now that really is a bummer John. Something that far off may get a call to the vendor.

 

[johnike]

I posted a thread about it in vendor feedback.

 

[snorvich]

Well, even some LFS "cheat" a bit. Look down tubs provide an enhanced view as opposed to side viewing. The one from johnike is a rather dramatic difference between real world and enhanced.

 

[johnike]

'Ya think?
It's still a nice coral, and I treat it just like the others even though the others make fun of it behind it's back.

 

[snorvich]

'Ya think?
It's still a nice coral, and I treat it just like the others even though the others make fun of it behind it's back.

What lights are you running it under? I have had some "similar issues" with the vendor you got it from.

 

[rlm2005]

Well, even some LFS "cheat" a bit. Look down tubs provide an enhanced view as opposed to side viewing. The one from johnike is a rather dramatic difference between real world and enhanced.

Yeah that one isn't even close, wow. As for the hammers pictured, those are taken under actinics, the finger holding the quarter is blue. The liveaquaria picture is how I've seen the orange hammers look at the LFS.

 

[terrypercula]

I agree if there's massive amounts of Photoshop going on, bit if it's a picture showing how the coral can look under certain lighting it's not really dishonest. That's how the coral can look if you wanted it too. I agree lighting notes would be nice, I know live aquaria has them, but it's also no secret if you put corals under super low wavelength lights they fluoresce...

 

[johnike]

What lights are you running it under? I have had some "similar issues" with the vendor you got it from.

Plusrite 14K SE, 5 of them.