Photoshopping is getting old

[flricordia]

Just finished looking through the thread 'Eye Candy!!! Zoas and Palys...'
and there are many, many awesome zoas there, but why all the photo shopping? Come on now, there are just way too many pics that have obviously been photo shopped.
Why would you want to ruin a pic of a zoanthid that pple want to see, not just to have something pretty to look at...hell...us guys could open a Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue if we wanted something pretty to look at. Women could open a Better Homes and Garden...just kidding there ladies. Pics of corals, zoanthids, mushrooms, etc. should be shown for what they are.
Please stop with all the photo shopping. It is so obvious and does nothing for the hobby and collection of zoanthids.
Under different lighting they will look different, but none are going to look so vivid red that even the background rock is that color.
And another thing, picture sharpening should be used at a minimum, not to the point that you can count the pixels one by one.
I for one would like to see what you have as they really are, even if the pic is a little blurry or your camera does not make the colors extremely vivid.
There is enough photo shopping going on on ebay and many seller sites, we don't need it here too.

 

[MikeB]

I noticed the same thing on that thread. There are some that stick out like a sore thumb

 

[dan10342]

i think photoshopping can FIX certain things. such as a pic that is too dark or something.

however, that said, when u can see the rock/other things in the background that obviously arent the correct color, that is just sad.

 

[Saltysteele]

well, photoshopping is necessary. back in the day of film cameras, believe it or not, people did process and alter their pictures. i, and quite a few others, shoot in raw. that is just that, the raw picture. if you use a pns camera, or any of the other settings on a dslr, you (whether you know it or not) are processing your pictures.

i agree with you, though, that a coral should look in a picture, what it looks like in your tank. if you come to my tank, you will see the corals looking as good, if not better, than they look in my pictures.

ps'ing to the extreme gives us all a bad name.

 

[Briney Dave]

I did not see that particular one and would not call anyone out in public. But I whole heartedly agree in asking each other to leave things as natural and as they are as possible. My wife is an art teacher and can spot that work a mile away, far better than I can.
Touching something up just slightly for the purpose of showing off is one thing, but it just should not be allowed in a sales thread.

 

[flricordia]

I do not mean to degrade anyone's pics at all. I just cannot understand why there are so many good pics being saturated in false colors. It is obvious to anyone that has kept zoanthids that those colors are not true. I have yet to see a bad pic and even those being photoshopped are good, except for the overcoloring. I think they would look just as good, if not better, if they were more natural in color. JMO but Aqualine MH 20k makes corals look thier best to the naked eye, but compaired to some of the photoshopped pics being posted, look like they are sitting under a 3000k tungston.
Trying to change the color of a zoanthid on a zoanthid forum is kind of silly really.

as it is

Now which would you really want to look at as a zoanthid connousieur? I mean, I know this is extreem, but why would anyone want to see a pic of a Candy Apple when it doesn't depict them as they really are.

 

[dan10342]

i hear ya.

in my case, its hard tho, because i run 8 LEDs (2 powerbrite actinic strips) over my 18 NANO!

very hard to get pics to be NON actinic looking. i always have to whiten them with PS

 

[flricordia]

i hear ya.

in my case, its hard tho, because i run 8 LEDs (2 powerbrite actinic strips) over my 18 NANO!

very hard to get pics to be NON actinic looking. i always have to whiten them with PS

That is not saturating them though and don't think anyone has any problems with that. Some programs will change the source lighting without adding color and all. Nothing wrong with that. Like putting a blue filter over a lens before shooting daylight film under tungsten lighting.

 

[Fish n' Frags]

Even with a completely over-saturated pic from PS, i find it very easy to tell what the coral actually looks like. Although it is everyday that someone uses photoshop to ENHANCE their pics, its not everyday that someone uses photoshop to add a color or two that wasn't there to begin with. If the color is in the pic, even over-saturated, the color is in the coral.

 

[dan10342]

Even with a completely over-saturated pic from PS, i find it very easy to tell what the coral actually looks like. Although it is everyday that someone uses photoshop to ENHANCE their pics, its not everyday that someone uses photoshop to add a color or two that wasn't there to begin with. If the color is in the pic, even over-saturated, the color is in the coral.

yea, but still oversaturating and changing the color balance is a bit fraud like.

i mean come on guys... if the coral is drab, then its drab.

here is my yellow zoas. first pic is from cam. second is photoshop job.

the real one

the photoshop one

obviously there is a huge issue with overdoing the PS

 

[Paintguru]

yea, but still oversaturating and changing the color balance is a bit fraud like.

i mean come on guys... if the coral is drab, then its drab.
obviously there is a huge issue with overdoing the PS

Second one is a little brighter, but if that is actually how they look in the tank, then I have no problem with it. Most photos end up with a white cast to them that needs to be PSed out in order to make it look right. To pretend that what the camera captures is what the eye sees is silly.

 

[Saltysteele]

To pretend that what the camera captures is what the eye sees is silly.

Can I get an Amen?!

Amen, brother Pg! :smile:

i do know what you guys are getting at, though. boosting colors to sell more. bad, very bad.

 

[Reef Pets]

You are correct..... What the camera captures and what the eye sees is two different things. This is why post editing it VERY important! Many people make the coral look completely different than what it looks like by using PS and that does get/is getting extremely old. If you want to "spice" up some colors for the photo on the back ground on your desktop that is one thing but to try to sell the coral and stating that it has bright colors (produced but PS) is wrong. This practice has ruined the trust of many buyers. If PS is used then I feel it should be used to make the coral in the photo look like the true coral because again, the camera will not capture what the eye sees.

 

[Azurel]

I find it much easier to not even mess with PS.....Used to have it but didn't use it for anything but cropping pics...

 

[dtpollard]

My pics come out pretty good w/o editing. I think I take some pretty good zoa pics so you prob think it is photoshop but it is not. I have a collection of great zoas and do not find the need for PS. I crop my photos to zoom in but that is about it. I think my tank lights are outstanding and that this makes the difference. If you buy good tank lights maybe you would not need PS.

 

[bamachamp92]

I dont mess with photoshop, I have cs3 but I dont use it. I have a lot of corals that look better in person than they do in pics, and with 20k bulbs i have to warm the color up some. I dont care if someone photoshops a coral for eyecandy purposes, but they shouldnt make it look different than it does in person if they are trying to sale it.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I like to use PS in order to make more money by making brown zoas appear to be rainbow in color!

 

[flricordia]

I like to use PS in order to make more money by making brown zoas appear to be rainbow in color!

Could you give me some pointers? I have some radio active greens I would like to turn to Purple Hornets.

 

[Saltysteele]

the thing is, if you shoot in RAW, you need to process your photo's. period.

if you're using a pns, or if you using the presets on a dslr, you ARE processing, though you may not realize it. all those presets are programmed in to adjust light balance, color, and all that stuff. it's processing it for you. just think: if you are not doing any processing now (other than what the camera does), imagine how much better your pic's would look with it. unless, of course, you don't mind your photo's looking drab, and are just trying to show something, and not show off something.

if you bought a new porsche, and were about to take it to a car show, would you just drive to the show, no wash, wax, polish? no, you would wash, wax, polish, vacuum and probably take it to the show in a covered trailer.

it's not about making them look better than what they are, it's about making them look like what they are.

 

[mak060]

To the photographers out there, is there a way to photograph with a color bar, especially in sales shots, to show that modified photos have been adjusted to more closely approximate daylight color. I think including a 6-inch plastic scale in each photo might help immensely. Sometimes I can't tell whether I'm buying a zoa or a paly, or a coral colony is 3 inches or six inches.