Would you pay for a Professional Reef Tank Photographer to come to your house?

Would you ever consider paying a professional to come take photos of your reef aquarium?

  • Yes if the price was right

    Votes: 104 22.7%
  • No I take good enough photos

    Votes: 205 44.8%
  • No I don't care about tank photos

    Votes: 109 23.8%
  • I am a professional photographer

    Votes: 16 3.5%
  • Other (please explain)

    Votes: 24 5.2%

  • Total voters
    458

LRT

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No I would not pay someone to take pictures of the creatures in my tank. I think I can handle it just fine. However if someone wants to hire me.. Sure.. I’ll shoot your livestock.

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Hey now lol
 

Wspangler

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I take lots of good pictures on my own with a DSLR. I consider this a must as a part to support my journal and results. Sharing pictures on the forums is also a plus.

It's also a part of the hobby I enjoy. For what some professional would cost you can buy a good DSLR.

If anyone cares to pay me to take some pics of their corals I'd be glad to do it!:D
Do you take frags in payment?

I'm not sure if I would actually pay money, but I've made a liar out of myself enough times I guess I wont say it will never happen.
 

polyppal

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I am a (retired) professional photographer and did weddings/events/engagements etc. as well as marketing photography for upscale Auto auctions and Manufactures. As a hobby now, I pretty much do Landscapes and long exposure.

When I would ask people to show me pictures of what they like, I was often surprised by how many of them loved photos that had some major technical errors. I would often think to myself 'anyone could have captured this image with a decent camera and a little know-how'... For the average hobbyist who isn't looking for perfection, I would think they would be very happy with their own work if they read up on some of the tricks to shooting a reef tank. There are some really nice pro photos on Reef2Reef, but knowing that many of them are so ridiculously photoshopped in terms of color and vibrance kinda ruins it for me.

I would second buying a -decent- body and -good!- macro lens if someone wanted regular photos of their tank. The lens is more important than the body. I have thousands of dollars worth of equipment, but I don't shoot my tanks with it because I don't have a macro (and would probably use it like twice if I got one)
 
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fowler279

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Nope. Would just buy a Macro lens and have my wife who is a Professional Photographer to do it. Although she prolly wouldnt. But dont really have a need for Professional pics of my tank.
 

58e970b2-3f88-4897-87ba-5

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Last time I showed my spouse a picture of my tank she said the problem was my coral weren’t pretty enough.

I’m not letting a professional anywhere near my tank after that. Just need a few more trips to the LFS to see if I fixed the problem...

Also I like taking shots myself. I enjoy the challenge of trying to get a good photo (I even occasionally read an article on how to improve). At this rate by the time my tank is worth taking pictures of I may be able to get a good shot of it.
 

siggy

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Only if I had a tank like Revs
 

SoggyNW

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Maybe spend the money on a photography class at your local community college? Then you can take your own great photos of everything in your light. And no you don't have to spend a ton of money on a fancy camera, most colleges have a course specifically on taking pics with a cell phone.

Personally I only take photos to...

1) document coral growth.

2) get a closer look at something I want to zoom in on.

3) impress people I don't know on the internet.

None of those things are worth professional money to me.
 

jessezm

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I just long-term borrowed (is that a thing?) a nice DSLR from a friend - a Canon EOS 5D Mark II - and I purchased a 2.8/100mm macro lens for it myself. What I would do is pay someone to come over and SHOW me how to use it properly, and then sit down with me and teach me the basics of post production, and then have at it myself. I feel like I just climbed into the cockpit of an airplane and started hitting buttons till the engine started LOL

But teach a man to fish... you know how the saying goes. Here's my first crappy photo:

IMG_8547.JPG
 

brokeaquarist

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If there was a market for it , I would totally invest in equipment to take pictures of people's reefs
 

lapin

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Im retired. They can pay me if they want to take pictures. I can use the money.
 

ReeferLou

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I have a closed hood with lights mounted to top. When hood is opened/tilted-up, the lights move and now point away from tank. Has anyone found a way to take amazing pics of their reef with a similar, hooded tank? Or do awesome pics seem to require a rimless tank, as top-down seems to give the best illumination?
Top down does show better color
 

SBB Corals

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we would 1000% do this and we just had Michael Vargas over to our place. He took some amazing photos. He really takes the best shots and memorializes the corals. We all know how finicky corals are and die sometimes without our control. Getting a professional photographer is the best way to capture this corals for a lifetime. For example we had stat zoas and they died. Michael vargas took a picture of them so now they are always in our memory and its almost like having the real thing :)

also here is some other samples of his amazing work :)

Stratosphere zoa

Strat.jpeg



SBB " Claw Machine"

Claw Machine.jpeg


2 face Electus Bounce

Bubble 2 face.jpeg
 

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