Be Careful Buying the Hype

RogerWilco357

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ahh didn't think about the cut and paste ..so they could just cut and paste he pic on a normal white frag rack soo many tricks wish I knew them all.
 

FiReBReTHa

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btw, even a pro like me can get hit.


The other day I got slammed on some Chocolate Rain Zoas.
 

porky

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Here are some of my examples......
This one was right out of the camera no editing at all
fishtank028-1.jpg


now for a little "responsible" photoshop so it looks exactly like it does in my tank
Photoshop1.jpg


finally what too many vendors try to do
photoshop2.jpg

That looks like a really nice coral. I can't believe some people would stoop to that level just to make a sale.
 

FiReBReTHa

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Even without the picture they sound incredible! Do you have pics of what they ended up being?

When the pollyps are small they really dont show, its not until they grow out that you can easily identify them.

















chocolaterainzoas.jpg












I'm precious.
 

fab1971

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It's weird, I never photoshop but sometimes my pictures look like they have been. I believe it has something to do with my camera but I'm not all together sure. While I have seen some sellers on here use photoshop, the majority don't ever touch up their photos. Truthfully, once I see that a picture has been messed with, I just walk away. Sad thing is, some corals don't even need touching up. They are absolutely amazing to begin with.
 

revhtree

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Save your vendor feedback for the vendor feedback forum. Thanks.
 
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akabryanhall

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I want to name names.. but wont!!!! But I think everybody knows the guilty parties...
Save your vendor feedback for the vendor feedback forum. Thanks.
Yup, thanks for not doing a list. This definitely was not intended to be a flame thread, but rather a guide for new coral buyers and a reminder to us vendors that we need to post pictures responsibly.
 

fsu1dolfan

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Great thread for those that dont realize things can be majorly photoshopped. There is definitely a fine line and sometimes it is tough to capture the true look of a coral. Even the computer can change the appearance of a coral. Best thing for vendors to do is post multiple pics with different light and maybe include a flash pic.

I totally felt like this was one of those commericals -
the_more_you_know2.jpg
 
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akabryanhall

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This is the way it was originally
the_more_you_know2.jpg

This is the way I want it to look
the_more_you_know2copy.jpg

This is how some people want you to believe it looks like
the_more_you_know2copy2.jpg
 

mdb_talon

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Great idea to post this! One other trick is to use plenty of blue led lighting which can look like its oversaturated but be an actual pic. While led's are legit lighting I myself am not a fan of them in pics or at fragswaps.

Nice chalice by the way!

Personally I grow my coral under 14k halides(no actinic supplementation) and that is what I use to take pictures for selling online. Halides are not practicle for fragswaps though and I personally think LED is the perfect choice at frag swaps. For well under 80 watts I can easily light up a 30x24 shallow frag tank. I have a diy 24 bulb led fixture with even ratio of blue/white. The corals actually do not look as good as with my 14k halides. I did add 12 more blue and then the corals really pop, but a little too much so took them off. Next gonna go with 18 blue to 12 white see how that looks.

My point is dont be against the led in fragswaps as they can give a very good representation of the coral, and when you have 30+ people all using power it is in many ways the ideal way to go. I think it much more important to see the ratio of the bulbs the vendor is using. I can promise my led fixture gives a much more accurate representation than some of the vendors I have seen with t5 consisting of two aquablue+ and 4 actinics over their frag tank. Online though I agree I dont like pictures taken under led cause at times the corals are "spotlighted" by one or more led and that does give a very innacurate representation of the coral and without seeing it in person it is hard to tell.
 
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akabryanhall

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I agree totally. When you see a coral in person, you have other coral to compare and contrast against. The brightest will stand out, while the dull ones would look dull in comparison.
 

dougers31

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Personally I grow my coral under 14k halides(no actinic supplementation) and that is what I use to take pictures for selling online. Halides are not practicle for fragswaps though and I personally think LED is the perfect choice at frag swaps. For well under 80 watts I can easily light up a 30x24 shallow frag tank. I have a diy 24 bulb led fixture with even ratio of blue/white. The corals actually do not look as good as with my 14k halides. I did add 12 more blue and then the corals really pop, but a little too much so took them off. Next gonna go with 18 blue to 12 white see how that looks.

My point is dont be against the led in fragswaps as they can give a very good representation of the coral, and when you have 30+ people all using power it is in many ways the ideal way to go. I think it much more important to see the ratio of the bulbs the vendor is using. I can promise my led fixture gives a much more accurate representation than some of the vendors I have seen with t5 consisting of two aquablue+ and 4 actinics over their frag tank. Online though I agree I dont like pictures taken under led cause at times the corals are "spotlighted" by one or more led and that does give a very innacurate representation of the coral and without seeing it in person it is hard to tell.

I'm sure your lighting gives a good representation... what I'm referring to is the setups that use a ton of blue led which makes the frags look radioactive. I like how you have your lights at a 50/50 combo.
 
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