Is there a way to tell if a vendor has photoshopped their pictures of corals?
Photoshop Pictures?
- Thread starter NanaReefer
- Start date
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Reef Fever
Valuable Member
If I was allowed to post the name of someone who IMO photoshops the crap out of photos I would..if you see something super crazy bright, downplay it in your mind tenfold. if it comes exactly as pictured sweet! if not then you prepared yourself not to be disappointed!
OP
OP
Is there no way to tell just by looking at the picture? Some pic's just look way to perfect! I was looking tonight at some and noticed a pinkish hue to the frag plugs. Now I know plugs aren't pinkish. So why are they in the pictures?
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Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
Rob.D
Moderator
Some pics aren't photoshopped, if the pic is taken under LEDs or mostly actinic T5s the pics will come out with a heavy blue tone, I think a lot of vendors just choose not to correct the white balance. Like stated previously, look for odd coloration on the frag plug, eggcrate, or substrate.
Reef_Lounge_USA
Active Member
As a vendor and as someone that makes a living doing coral/fish photography. I'm not the best or got the top of the line equipment, but I will admit I do used photo editing to a limited extent.
I strictly stick to three function of the editing; White-balance, contrast and brightness.
White-balance to offset the blue LEDs
Contrast to enhance the textures of the coral that the raw image doesn't provide
Brightness to tone down or up the image to look natural/normal aquarium setting as possible
My goal is always to get it as close to as if people were looking at it in person, NEVER to mislead with over-saturated images.
I do agree, there's a lot pictures taken under strict actinic, but in the same manner, a lot of reefers run strict actinics. So sometime its up to the discretion of the vendor to decide how they take the picture and present it.
As far as how to tell who is hitting the color saturation tool too much, unless you got experience or someone tells ya so, just go with your gut feeling whether is too good to be true.
I strictly stick to three function of the editing; White-balance, contrast and brightness.
White-balance to offset the blue LEDs
Contrast to enhance the textures of the coral that the raw image doesn't provide
Brightness to tone down or up the image to look natural/normal aquarium setting as possible
My goal is always to get it as close to as if people were looking at it in person, NEVER to mislead with over-saturated images.
I do agree, there's a lot pictures taken under strict actinic, but in the same manner, a lot of reefers run strict actinics. So sometime its up to the discretion of the vendor to decide how they take the picture and present it.
As far as how to tell who is hitting the color saturation tool too much, unless you got experience or someone tells ya so, just go with your gut feeling whether is too good to be true.
Rob&Gab
unregistered
Before straight from the camera. (nothing edited)
(Edited) Only fixed white balance no contrast added no saturation added
only fixed to take away blue and make it look how it is in my tank the way i see it and everyone else would.
(Edited) Only fixed white balance no contrast added no saturation added
only fixed to take away blue and make it look how it is in my tank the way i see it and everyone else would.
Reef_Lounge_USA
Active Member
White-balance, contrast, brightness... hopefully no one thinks I'm a fraud for using the technique but even with editing it still doesn't do alot of the corals specimens any justice vs. seeing 'em in person
the blue LED casts a haze and takes away the color depth and texture that luckily we have programs to balance out
the blue LED casts a haze and takes away the color depth and texture that luckily we have programs to balance out
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OP
OP
How can I tell if a coral is being kept under LED's or T5's. A few corals that I ordered looked nothing like they did in their pictures. Confronting the seller got me, "They're not going to look like the pic because your running T5's and the pic was taken under LED's", ugh!
Should I assume that all pic's are taken under LED'S?
I've stopped buying online because I run T5's. Seriously!!
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Should I assume that all pic's are taken under LED'S?
I've stopped buying online because I run T5's. Seriously!!
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
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Reef_Lounge_USA
Active Member
that's unfortunate that the trust and business of another online reef shopper is lost due to these circumstances. All you can do is ask what lightning or ask someone with a lil expertise for their opinion and make your best judgment from there
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Reef Fever
Valuable Member
I think WB, and brightness, sometimes contrast are the only acceptable post processing techniques. I would rather sell something that I know a picture doesn't do justice than try and process the crap out of it. That way when the buyer gets the piece they say "wow it looks even better in person!" They are then satisfied and know that your stuff is good
The vendor I was referring to uses a professional photographer and then they post process the crap out of things
The vendor I was referring to uses a professional photographer and then they post process the crap out of things
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rworegon
Active Member
Post processing is so common these days that you can just about count on some sort of adjustments are being made. The sensors on dslr's don't see light the way our eyes do and thats why most pics strt off so blue. Most cameras can do auto white balance to a degree but most will only temp adjust so far. White balance correction is almost necessary to get your corals looking like our eyes see them. When I take photos of corals I almost always do some sort of adjustments. However, these adjustments are almost always done in a program called camera raw, which is a sort of front end to photoshop. The only sliders I use are the recovery slider which recovers lost detail in blown out highlights, white balance to remove the overly blue cast from actinic supplemental lighting, contrast, and the blacks slider which will boost the black spectrum in the pic. This will darken the background and bring the viewers eye to the subject of the image.
Here is an example of what an image looks like before and after white balance correction.
Before, notice the overly blue cast on the eggcrate:
Now after white balance correction, notice the eggcrate look white:
This is what it looks like to the eye.
I see so many pics of corals for sale that are obviously color saturated. If you do any sort of photo post processing you will be able to tell if the pics are overly processed. You just seem to get a feel for it after a while.
Here is an example of what an image looks like before and after white balance correction.
Before, notice the overly blue cast on the eggcrate:
Now after white balance correction, notice the eggcrate look white:
This is what it looks like to the eye.
I see so many pics of corals for sale that are obviously color saturated. If you do any sort of photo post processing you will be able to tell if the pics are overly processed. You just seem to get a feel for it after a while.
professional photographers of all subjects use photoshop. the use of photoshop is just a tool. in reef photography we use it to adjust images so they look true to the eye. i would rather see a vendor's photoshopped image than the image straight off the camera, provided they are adjusting appropriately. this comes down to photoshop knowledge/skill/ability, and it's pretty easy for me to spot the ones who don't know what they are doing v/s ones who are blatantly trying to enhance v/s the ones who get it right.
