Photo Tomfoolery to sell coral frags... your thoughts:

[justingraham]

Is this edited? ;Woot The background looks legit. These guys are getting crafty.

Saturation pegged
Along with clarity and dehaze but only on the coral not the background

 

[Hemmdog]

Saturation pegged
Along with clarity and dehaze but only on the coral not the background

Is that stuff difficult to do?

 

[justingraham]

Is that stuff difficult to do?

Only if u don’t have seven dollars a month

 

[Bpb]

Is this edited? ;Woot The background looks legit. These guys are getting crafty.

 

[PurpleMonsterSlayer]

When I looked at this photo of a mushroom I knew it was juiced just didn’t know how much but honestly this picture is exactly what it looks like in real lift

this was just after it arrived while acclimated under my kitchen lights with iPhone X no filter or editing

under blues after it hit the tank taken with an iPhone X with a yellow lens and no editing

 

[Bpb]

When I looked at this photo of a mushroom I knew it was juiced just didn’t know how much but honestly this picture is exactly what it looks like in real lift

this was just after it arrived while acclimated under my kitchen lights with iPhone X no filter or editing

under blues after it hit the tank taken with an iPhone X with a yellow lens and no editing

I believe it. Many mushrooms, zoas, and lps have that super saturated color contrast if they’re happy. I think the most criminal offenders of excessive Lightroom editing come with acropora

 

[krash7172]

Which one would you buy?

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I don't mind it, it helps show off the different colors the naked eye can't see but also gives an idea of all the different visuals. It sucks for new people starting out but then again, novice reefers shouldn't be buying expensive corals to begin with.

If you have been in this industry more than 6 months or frequented a single LFS or frag swap and still get fooled then shame on you and you should have known better.

 

[krash7172]

The debate is image manipulation for online sales

 

[krash7172]

In modern photography, even the professionals "post process" photos in this digital world. If you are selling a pretty picture then who cares. When you are trying to sell the item in the image (not really a photo anymore if altered IMO) there are ethical and legal obligations to make a reasonable effort to accurately describe what you are purchasing. Should a seller do what they can to make their products attractive? Absolutely. How far before it becomes deception?

 

[Vivid Aquariums]

It’s hard to have a thread like this created based upon photos that have been re edited and displayed like this. Our original photos are extremely accurate as to how these corals look in our display under blues but what is posted in this thread is not what we ever posted...... on a side note, over time we have noticed that not all monitors, phones, displays etc present the same colors and images as to how the coral initially looked after editing. The other day in our store we held a Samsung phone display next to an Apple product which these photos were edited on and there were two completely different corals shown between the two phones. The Samsung looked saturated and while the other on the Apple phone looked extremely accurate as to how the coral looks in person. To re edit these photos in an attempt to make someone look bad just for a conversation topic in a thread is unfair.
Photos posted in this thread

Our original Photos

 

[Bpb]

It’s hard to have a thread like this created based upon photos that have been re edited and displayed like this. Our original photos are extremely accurate as to how these corals look in our display under blues but what is posted in this thread is not what we ever posted...... on a side note, over time we have noticed that not all monitors, phones, displays etc present the same colors and images as to how the coral initially looked after editing. The other day in our store we held a Samsung phone display next to an Apple product which these photos were edited on and there were two completely different corals shown between the two phones. The Samsung looked saturated and while the other on the Apple phone looked extremely accurate as to how the coral looks in person. To re edit these photos in an attempt to make someone look bad just for a conversation topic in a thread is unfair.
Photos posted in this thread

Our original Photos

Good eye, vivid. Thanks for chiming in.

I notice the problem being most prevalent among Facebook sellers to be honest. There are a number of official vendors that apply a little extra “makeup” as it were, but most people with any skin in the game can spot it quick.

The biggest culprit is one of the original vendor pictures for the Maleficent Acro. It is absurd. It looks like it was made in Microsoft paint. The actual coral is still quite fetching though

 

[revhtree]

Does this look doctored to you?

Did you edit this photo and if not where did you get it?

 

[WisconsinReefing]

I completely agree that sellers should not Photoshop their images to enhance colors, in particular when they increase the saturation to make colors look artificially vibrant.

However, some corals can naturally look vibrant in photos. I don't sell corals, but I do take a lot of photos (in particular macro photos) just for fun. I set my camera to adjust the white balance to compensate for blue lights, but do not use Photoshop at all. Here are a few examples from my tank which have not been enhanced in any way that look particularly good, and actually look the same in person:

Amazing pictures. What kind of camera do you use?

 

[SuncrestReef]

Amazing pictures. What kind of camera do you use?

I used a Nikon D610 camera with a Nikon 200mm f/4 macro lens. See post# 79 in this thread for details: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/p...rags-your-thoughts.654862/page-4#post-6790129

 

[Hemmdog]

Did you edit this photo and if not where did you get it?

I saw it on Facebook from an individual seller, not a vendor.

 

[Hemmdog]

It’s hard to have a thread like this created based upon photos that have been re edited and displayed like this. Our original photos are extremely accurate as to how these corals look in our display under blues but what is posted in this thread is not what we ever posted...... on a side note, over time we have noticed that not all monitors, phones, displays etc present the same colors and images as to how the coral initially looked after editing. The other day in our store we held a Samsung phone display next to an Apple product which these photos were edited on and there were two completely different corals shown between the two phones. The Samsung looked saturated and while the other on the Apple phone looked extremely accurate as to how the coral looks in person. To re edit these photos in an attempt to make someone look bad just for a conversation topic in a thread is unfair.
Photos posted in this thread

Our original Photos

I did not realize the original pictures of the coral were yours. I saw them on Facebook from an individual and it appears he enhanced your pictures. I didn’t mean to share them here with any malice towards your company. I apologize and mods please feel free to delete my posts where I shared those pictures I saw on FB.

 

[Waynerock]

Google photos did this one for me without asking. Which in its own right is kinda creepy but that’s the sacrifice we make for letting google back up our Picts for free I guess. I still think the original looks better. The Picts where a few months apart I can’t find the original. I am just glad google can’t have a talk with me because there might be some Picts they have that need a little explaining!haha

 

[Bob Weigant]

I pretty much only get my corals from friends who have purchased them online. They tell me straight up if it’s good ( color wise ) or not.

 

[revhtree]

I saw it on Facebook from an individual seller, not a vendor.

Thanks for that info!