You know it’s been a while since I’ve written a truly harsh post slamming something that I consider absurd in our hobby/industry. Okay, maybe it hasn’t been that long, but I am sufficiently motivated. In fact, I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir, but I simply cannot help myself today.
I’ve had no less than four occasions this week that forced me to once again dredge up a prevailing theme and proffer up a warning to you, my fellow reefers, about a practice which is simply bad for the hobby, and, despite widespread criticism and near-universal condemnation, is still practiced in some hobby circles.
I call it “Photoshop Abuse.” It’s absurd. It’s unprofessional. It’s misleading. It’s dishonest. It’s unnecessary.
It has to stop.
You know what I’m referring to: Spectacularly over-saturated pictures of nice corals that are so over-the-top that you’re convinced that either you’ve scored the prettiest darned coral of the year, or that maybe, just maybe...someone has gone over the edge in hype and saturation. Yup.
I had three very good customers contact me about specific coral pieces that they saw on other vendors’ sites/forums, and wanted to see if we “could get one as nice as that.” One of my clients, a super collector, was kind of half-joking, as I believe he knows my hatred of the hyped up color, but the other three were quite serious; completely duped by photos that were, to the experienced eye, so far off from reality that it wasn’t even funny.
Well, it WAS funny, but not in a humorous way.
Something is definitely amiss here...
Obviously, I’m not going to name names or share the pics that I received. The perpetrators know who they are, I'm pretty sure. Even though I’m convinced the absurd pics were deliberately over saturated, I operate on the assumption that people are mostly good, and that there is a slight chance that the vendor(s) in question simply didn’t know how completely awfully over-saturated their pics were. It happens when you’re editing dozens of pics at a time. We’ve made a few boo boos before; we did catch them before publishing them, fortunately.
However, after showing these pics to several other more experienced coral guys than me, along with one of the best professional photographers in the world, who all shook their heads and even laughed, my more negative concerns were reinforced: The pics were deliberately over-saturated for one reason or another.
That reason, IMHO, is to simply make the coral “look better” to the (unwary) consumer. Yeah, believe it or not, almost three decades into the “modern” reef hobby era, and we still have tools (yeah, you heard me) who resort to Photoshop-enhanced hype to sell corals. And the sad thing is that there are still plenty of good people out there who fall for this stuff. And still plenty of vendors who shamelessly put out these absurd pics in the name of “commerce.”
So, in summary, stupidity and greed are two key factors in the perpetuation of this “practice.”
"Trust me. I'm a legit coral vendor."
My advice- no, my REQUEST to those vendors who are practitioners of this absurdity: Just stop. Stop, because you a) Give our industry a bad name, b) Deliberately mislead a consumer to make a quick buck, c) Are convincing yourself that the consumer is stupid enough to believe anything that you’ll put up on your site or online forums.
Learn how to color up corals through legitimate means: Providing proper environmental conditions, nutrition, and stability. You’d be surprised to find that, if you actually take care of your newly-received corals, rather than take quick pics, oversaturate them in Photoshop, and ship the coral out two days after arrival- they’ll respond with REAL color and vigor and you won’t feel compelled to reinforce your lack of manhood (or girlhood, whatever) with abusive post-production.
Abuse of photo editing is hurtful not only to the consumer, it gives legitimate vendors a black eye. It’s not “marketing”, you idiots who do this. (Yes, you’re an idiot if you do this. Sorry) It damages confidence in consumers, who place their faith in a picture on a website and plunk down their hard earned cash in the hope that “What You See Is What You Get.” When it isn’t, it’s a very sad thing. In the online game, we have an easy, built-in excuse for why the coral doesn’t look as good as in the pic: “Oh, it didn’t travel well. Must have gotten stressed out in shipping.” Sure, that’s a quasi-legitimate excuse for many off-color corals.
As I’ve repeated previously ad naseum here, some corals do NOT ship well, and WILL be off color for a while after arrival in a new environment. This is a good explanation when you’re talking about a coral that arrives sort of brown or otherwise looking stressed. With good care, may will recover to their former splendor within a few weeks. However, it’s a completely useless excuse for a hyper-photoshopped coral which NEVER looked like its pic did, anyways.
Healthy corals, even not overly-colorful ones, show a richness and vibrance that photo-editing could only dream of emulating.
Perhaps your first tip would be the excessively purple or blue rocks, egg crate, or substrate accompanying the coral in the pic; even the excessive marketing hype and clearly “sponsored” comments from “fans” should be a tip off. We receive plenty of calls from customers asking us under what type of light we shot the pic. This is a legitimate question, which can at least provide you with some gauge as to how the coral may look in your system. We are frequently told by hobbyists that they can’t believe how nice our corals look in person- better even, than on our website, when they pay a visit to our facility.
We’re not alone- there are plenty of vendors on this and other forums that have amazing corals WITHOUT the need to resort to “photoshop augmentation.”
For every hype-mongering moron vendor out there, we have dozens of hard-working, completely legitimate vendors who bring you amazing corals every day, with consistent quality and health that only come from practitioners of dedicated care of their livestock. Many of the best are right here on this forum. Support them vigorously. Give them real feedback so that they can continue to do great work, and improve where it’s needed. Your comments and suggestions have proven invaluable to our company, and have resulted in numerous improvements since we commenced operations.
Legitimate coral vendors do legitimate work, and don’t play games like this. They don’t need to.
Yet others still feel the need to resort to this sort of garbage. Why? I can only speculate. However, after seeing some of the offenders in person, they way they take care of their animals, the way they “market” (hah!) and the way they run their businesses, I can see why: They are simply making up for their inadequacies in other areas of their operation.
Rather than invest the time, money, and effort into developing systems and techniques for keeping corals healthy and beautiful, they choose to “turn and burn” corals with hype and photo-manipulation. I guess that’s their “business model.” The sad fact is that some of these “vendors” are the same ones charging absurd $$ amounts for fractions of an inch of these “hyped” corals. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me that absurdly non-sustainable business practices are utilized by people who practice absurdly stupid “marketing” and pricing practices as well.
"What are you talking about, tootsie? I've had maybe one Botox injection in the past 25 years..."
So, without further beating a proverbial dead horse, my advice to you, Mr. or Ms. coral consumer, is to look critically at that pic, to compare the coral in question to other, more representative examples of it’s type, and make your decision based on the best information that you can gather- not the hype, sponsored comments in forums, and other garbage that accompanies a third-rate vendor’s feeble attempt to look “legit.”
Be aware. Be an alert consumer. Ask questions, look critically at the “big picture.” Consider the source, the forum “chatter”, and your knowledge of what the species typically looks like before pulling the trigger. If you have a doubt., hold. In the end, you need to be comfortable when you’re buying a piece of coral from thousands of miles away. It’s a relationship. A relationship with your vendor, built upon trust, confidence, and consistency. It’s about how your treated when something goes wrong, not just when you’re forking over the big bucks. It starts with an honest photo. Real corals and fishes, when provided with proper care, are plenty nice, believe me.
"Photoshop ain't got NOTHING on me, fool!"
In summary, I'm not using this forum as a platform to bash "competitors", or beat my own chest. I'm using it as a sounding board to alert you to something that is harmful to the hobby. I'm not the self-appointed guardian of coral industry morality. I'm just a hobbyist, a consumer like you, who has been burned- and continues to see fellow reefers burned- by absurdly unethical practices, and I'll call 'em like I see 'em.
I'd love for those of you out there who have something to say about this practice to make your experiences- and opinions- heard. Keep it nice and no naming names...this is not the place for that. However, sharing experiences is important.
Stay sharp, keep the industry on its toes, support the truly legitimate, hardworking vendors on this forum and elsewhere, and demand the best from all of us.
And stay wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
I’ve had no less than four occasions this week that forced me to once again dredge up a prevailing theme and proffer up a warning to you, my fellow reefers, about a practice which is simply bad for the hobby, and, despite widespread criticism and near-universal condemnation, is still practiced in some hobby circles.
I call it “Photoshop Abuse.” It’s absurd. It’s unprofessional. It’s misleading. It’s dishonest. It’s unnecessary.
It has to stop.
You know what I’m referring to: Spectacularly over-saturated pictures of nice corals that are so over-the-top that you’re convinced that either you’ve scored the prettiest darned coral of the year, or that maybe, just maybe...someone has gone over the edge in hype and saturation. Yup.
I had three very good customers contact me about specific coral pieces that they saw on other vendors’ sites/forums, and wanted to see if we “could get one as nice as that.” One of my clients, a super collector, was kind of half-joking, as I believe he knows my hatred of the hyped up color, but the other three were quite serious; completely duped by photos that were, to the experienced eye, so far off from reality that it wasn’t even funny.
Well, it WAS funny, but not in a humorous way.
Something is definitely amiss here...
Obviously, I’m not going to name names or share the pics that I received. The perpetrators know who they are, I'm pretty sure. Even though I’m convinced the absurd pics were deliberately over saturated, I operate on the assumption that people are mostly good, and that there is a slight chance that the vendor(s) in question simply didn’t know how completely awfully over-saturated their pics were. It happens when you’re editing dozens of pics at a time. We’ve made a few boo boos before; we did catch them before publishing them, fortunately.
However, after showing these pics to several other more experienced coral guys than me, along with one of the best professional photographers in the world, who all shook their heads and even laughed, my more negative concerns were reinforced: The pics were deliberately over-saturated for one reason or another.
That reason, IMHO, is to simply make the coral “look better” to the (unwary) consumer. Yeah, believe it or not, almost three decades into the “modern” reef hobby era, and we still have tools (yeah, you heard me) who resort to Photoshop-enhanced hype to sell corals. And the sad thing is that there are still plenty of good people out there who fall for this stuff. And still plenty of vendors who shamelessly put out these absurd pics in the name of “commerce.”
So, in summary, stupidity and greed are two key factors in the perpetuation of this “practice.”
"Trust me. I'm a legit coral vendor."
My advice- no, my REQUEST to those vendors who are practitioners of this absurdity: Just stop. Stop, because you a) Give our industry a bad name, b) Deliberately mislead a consumer to make a quick buck, c) Are convincing yourself that the consumer is stupid enough to believe anything that you’ll put up on your site or online forums.
Learn how to color up corals through legitimate means: Providing proper environmental conditions, nutrition, and stability. You’d be surprised to find that, if you actually take care of your newly-received corals, rather than take quick pics, oversaturate them in Photoshop, and ship the coral out two days after arrival- they’ll respond with REAL color and vigor and you won’t feel compelled to reinforce your lack of manhood (or girlhood, whatever) with abusive post-production.
Abuse of photo editing is hurtful not only to the consumer, it gives legitimate vendors a black eye. It’s not “marketing”, you idiots who do this. (Yes, you’re an idiot if you do this. Sorry) It damages confidence in consumers, who place their faith in a picture on a website and plunk down their hard earned cash in the hope that “What You See Is What You Get.” When it isn’t, it’s a very sad thing. In the online game, we have an easy, built-in excuse for why the coral doesn’t look as good as in the pic: “Oh, it didn’t travel well. Must have gotten stressed out in shipping.” Sure, that’s a quasi-legitimate excuse for many off-color corals.
As I’ve repeated previously ad naseum here, some corals do NOT ship well, and WILL be off color for a while after arrival in a new environment. This is a good explanation when you’re talking about a coral that arrives sort of brown or otherwise looking stressed. With good care, may will recover to their former splendor within a few weeks. However, it’s a completely useless excuse for a hyper-photoshopped coral which NEVER looked like its pic did, anyways.
Healthy corals, even not overly-colorful ones, show a richness and vibrance that photo-editing could only dream of emulating.
Perhaps your first tip would be the excessively purple or blue rocks, egg crate, or substrate accompanying the coral in the pic; even the excessive marketing hype and clearly “sponsored” comments from “fans” should be a tip off. We receive plenty of calls from customers asking us under what type of light we shot the pic. This is a legitimate question, which can at least provide you with some gauge as to how the coral may look in your system. We are frequently told by hobbyists that they can’t believe how nice our corals look in person- better even, than on our website, when they pay a visit to our facility.
We’re not alone- there are plenty of vendors on this and other forums that have amazing corals WITHOUT the need to resort to “photoshop augmentation.”
For every hype-mongering moron vendor out there, we have dozens of hard-working, completely legitimate vendors who bring you amazing corals every day, with consistent quality and health that only come from practitioners of dedicated care of their livestock. Many of the best are right here on this forum. Support them vigorously. Give them real feedback so that they can continue to do great work, and improve where it’s needed. Your comments and suggestions have proven invaluable to our company, and have resulted in numerous improvements since we commenced operations.
Legitimate coral vendors do legitimate work, and don’t play games like this. They don’t need to.
Yet others still feel the need to resort to this sort of garbage. Why? I can only speculate. However, after seeing some of the offenders in person, they way they take care of their animals, the way they “market” (hah!) and the way they run their businesses, I can see why: They are simply making up for their inadequacies in other areas of their operation.
Rather than invest the time, money, and effort into developing systems and techniques for keeping corals healthy and beautiful, they choose to “turn and burn” corals with hype and photo-manipulation. I guess that’s their “business model.” The sad fact is that some of these “vendors” are the same ones charging absurd $$ amounts for fractions of an inch of these “hyped” corals. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me that absurdly non-sustainable business practices are utilized by people who practice absurdly stupid “marketing” and pricing practices as well.
"What are you talking about, tootsie? I've had maybe one Botox injection in the past 25 years..."
So, without further beating a proverbial dead horse, my advice to you, Mr. or Ms. coral consumer, is to look critically at that pic, to compare the coral in question to other, more representative examples of it’s type, and make your decision based on the best information that you can gather- not the hype, sponsored comments in forums, and other garbage that accompanies a third-rate vendor’s feeble attempt to look “legit.”
Be aware. Be an alert consumer. Ask questions, look critically at the “big picture.” Consider the source, the forum “chatter”, and your knowledge of what the species typically looks like before pulling the trigger. If you have a doubt., hold. In the end, you need to be comfortable when you’re buying a piece of coral from thousands of miles away. It’s a relationship. A relationship with your vendor, built upon trust, confidence, and consistency. It’s about how your treated when something goes wrong, not just when you’re forking over the big bucks. It starts with an honest photo. Real corals and fishes, when provided with proper care, are plenty nice, believe me.
"Photoshop ain't got NOTHING on me, fool!"
In summary, I'm not using this forum as a platform to bash "competitors", or beat my own chest. I'm using it as a sounding board to alert you to something that is harmful to the hobby. I'm not the self-appointed guardian of coral industry morality. I'm just a hobbyist, a consumer like you, who has been burned- and continues to see fellow reefers burned- by absurdly unethical practices, and I'll call 'em like I see 'em.
I'd love for those of you out there who have something to say about this practice to make your experiences- and opinions- heard. Keep it nice and no naming names...this is not the place for that. However, sharing experiences is important.
Stay sharp, keep the industry on its toes, support the truly legitimate, hardworking vendors on this forum and elsewhere, and demand the best from all of us.
And stay wet.
Scott Fellman
Unique Corals
Last edited:
opcorn:
