Coral reefer
Past President
Look at battle corals. He at least used to provide shots under halide, blue leds, and whites
This is why I don't buy online
- Thread starter Matthew Meyer
- Start date
derek_SR
Supporting Member
What, your fingers don't look like that in real life??
The sad thing is the color on the frags is still pretty meh...
Matthew Meyer
Supporting Member
Calikid corals just posted
These look pretty legit if you're seen a lot of Homophyllia australis (Scolys) in person. Can vouch for Cali Kid, they use Kessil lights only and there's a slight orange shift here from the lens, which probably makes it look more realistic than without.
I get that slight violet hue as well in my photos that's difficult to remove without like Lightroom or other software. Plus each monitor will render things differently (and many reefers have some degree of color blindness, especially given the current male dominated aspect of the hobby).
There's a REALLY good video on this here where Becca explains how she makes things look amazing and how many hours of editing actually would have to take place to make it look perfect:
Matthew Meyer
Supporting Member
I did not say "photo shopped". Most photos taken are overexposed with too much light. I believe it to be dishonest to the consumer. I have seen your corals many times myself in person. The coral and its frag plug are positively glowing in the photo above. These kind of photos just seem to be an industry standard now. It is disappointing.
MichaelB
Supporting Member
They had a handful of them at cfm they looked a lot better person than those pictures. I've been in their store twice because of distance, but my impression was they had some stunning eye catching coloration on more than half their corals at the time (I brought my orange filter glasses made a big difference. )
There are to many varribles to mention when it comes to taking a picture of a coral. Some shameful people use photoshop/editing I won't deny it. Those pictures to me looks like just a orange filter. And if anything they don't do justice to the colors of the ones he actually brought to cfm as I mentioned above.
There are to many varribles to mention when it comes to taking a picture of a coral. Some shameful people use photoshop/editing I won't deny it. Those pictures to me looks like just a orange filter. And if anything they don't do justice to the colors of the ones he actually brought to cfm as I mentioned above.
Coral reefer
Past President
The issue I have is if someone posts an unrealistic picture and tries to sell something for way more than it should go for. That’s not the case here
Alexander1312
Supporting Member
The common ground here though is that buying online is not the preferred way of purchasing corals, as the title says.
It's the exact opposite where the cameras actually aren't receiving enough light. Watch the Tidal Gardens video for Becca's explanation.
For example this is standard exposure here for my tank if I make zero adjustments:
This is if I take the shot in night sight:
The second is much more like what my eyes are, plus there's a downgrade when I upload here that shifts the colors slightly. Facebook probably distorts images even more. But exact same phone, no lens, no fillers.
Cos' website has high res photos that don't get scaled down, but they do have more contrast due to cropping them, and still have pretty accurate looking colors:
Honestly every coral I've gotten from him looked good in the store and even better in my tank after a few months. Could be better husbandry, nutrition, or lighting (or a combination).
Not the best photos but you can see how much color the wilsonis have picked up in 8 months (both not taken in night sight mode):
Then the night sight photo with an orange lens, adjustments to force a macro image with night sight for a long exposure, cleaned front pane, pumps off, lights dropping violet channels down, and holding really still for 3 seconds. This is by far closest to me sticking my eyeball up to the acrylic:
End of the day, you're always taking a risk by buying from some rando on Facebook vs. a legit vendor like a LFS and/or a long time successful online vendor. But claiming it's dishonest to the customer is a bit of a stretch given how difficult it is to get proper color rendition with our lighting.
Arvin R
Sponsor
Here's an example from a photo I just took of our nems. Phone camera and orange lens only, WB adjustment to match as close to how the nems look to the naked eye under blues as much as possible. Makes the background crazy blued out. But you can clearly tell the nems and GSP look very close to true to eye.
These are taken with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra which I regret buying because the camera/software does add slight saturation to the picture. I try to tone it done via settings but depending on what I'm taking a picture of, sometimes there is nothing I can do. Here's a goni for example that is actually more of a bright pastel pink with dark red ring around the oral disc in person but here's how it turns out via photos
With how many pictures I take and how many other things I do, I don't have the time to use my DSLR and process all the photos on my computer unfortunately so I have to live with some of my photos being slightly altered.
I agree that misleading photos that are doctored suck and don't do the buyer justice. I also understand that the original picture is taken by the wholesaler/exporter and not Aqua Plus, which is another thing I don't agree with and vendor's should not be using wholesalers images to advertise or promote the coral they are getting but instead should wait until they have the coral in hand and then take their own picture.
Definitely as buyers I always recommend to do your due diligence especially when you are getting corals for 50% or less than normal retail value. There is always a reason why that vendor is selling way lower than everyone else. And that's usually because what they are selling isn't as good as what they are claiming it to be.
These are taken with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra which I regret buying because the camera/software does add slight saturation to the picture. I try to tone it done via settings but depending on what I'm taking a picture of, sometimes there is nothing I can do. Here's a goni for example that is actually more of a bright pastel pink with dark red ring around the oral disc in person but here's how it turns out via photos
With how many pictures I take and how many other things I do, I don't have the time to use my DSLR and process all the photos on my computer unfortunately so I have to live with some of my photos being slightly altered.
I agree that misleading photos that are doctored suck and don't do the buyer justice. I also understand that the original picture is taken by the wholesaler/exporter and not Aqua Plus, which is another thing I don't agree with and vendor's should not be using wholesalers images to advertise or promote the coral they are getting but instead should wait until they have the coral in hand and then take their own picture.
Definitely as buyers I always recommend to do your due diligence especially when you are getting corals for 50% or less than normal retail value. There is always a reason why that vendor is selling way lower than everyone else. And that's usually because what they are selling isn't as good as what they are claiming it to be.
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BAYMAC
Supporting Member
Mmm overexposure just blows the photo out in terms of brightness, it doesn't enhance colors really. If anything, it doesn't sell the coral as much as a proper exposure.
BAYMAC
Supporting Member
Absolutely.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
Curious as to why your pictures come out red? I’ve seen some pictures of hobbyist tanks that magenta also and just assumed they ran lots of redIt's the exact opposite where the cameras actually aren't receiving enough light. Watch the Tidal Gardens video for Becca's explanation.
For example this is standard exposure here for my tank if I make zero adjustments:
View attachment 55991
This is if I take the shot in night sight:
View attachment 55992
The second is much more like what my eyes are, plus there's a downgrade when I upload here that shifts the colors slightly. Facebook probably distorts images even more. But exact same phone, no lens, no fillers.
Cos' website has high res photos that don't get scaled down, but they do have more contrast due to cropping them, and still have pretty accurate looking colors:
Honestly every coral I've gotten from him looked good in the store and even better in my tank after a few months. Could be better husbandry, nutrition, or lighting (or a combination).
Not the best photos but you can see how much color the wilsonis have picked up in 8 months (both not taken in night sight mode):
View attachment 55993
Then the night sight photo with an orange lens, adjustments to force a macro image with night sight for a long exposure, cleaned front pane, pumps off, lights dropping violet channels down, and holding really still for 3 seconds. This is by far closest to me sticking my eyeball up to the acrylic:View attachment 55994
End of the day, you're always taking a risk by buying from some rando on Facebook vs. a legit vendor like a LFS and/or a long time successful online vendor. But claiming it's dishonest to the customer is a bit of a stretch given how difficult it is to get proper color rendition with our lighting.
ReeFi lights have like 2x the violet LEDs as other manufacturers so my phone gets into that range sometimes on auto.
Arvin R
Sponsor
A good healthy coral can survive overnight shipping easily without developing any issues. If shipments are coming in with damaged and/or dead coral then that's a clear sign to avoid that seller for any future purchases. They are either not packaging it properly for the travel or are selling corals that are very stressed and not healed up from their original import shipment/generally not well taken care of.
Coral reefer
Past President
Generally agree, but I have noticed that LPS with the sharp serrated kind of skeletons can easily have issues with tissue getting sliced during shipping or even transport home from a LFS or a swap.
I’m sure proper packing would reduce issues a lot