How Prevalent is Photo Modification in Vendor Pics?

[Charlie the Reefer]

Hey everyone...

A bit new to photography so apologies if this is a naive question.

I've seen a lot of great coral pics from various vendors and hobbyists. Something I've realized is a lot of these are simply taken with an iPhone, not necessarily a DSLR or super high-end equipment. I have struggled myself to get comparable pictures of the same corals, even though they look great in my tank in person.

However, the other day I downloaded some photo editing software and was fairly easily (within literally 2 minutes) able to drastically improve the aesthetic of some iphone pictures I had.

Let's talk specifics and examples.... coral is ACI Princess:

This is a great, unique hammer coral with awesome coloration. No denying that. However, the pic also looks... how do I put this... pretty tricked out!

Here's a completely un-edited, "raw" pic of the same coral in my tank:

Obviously doesn't look nearly as vivid/pop as much. Looks fairly bleached out and crappy actually. However, with relative ease, here is what I'm able to do:

We're not quite where the original vendor pic is, but a LOT closer. Obviously I need to adjust colors more to make it look "real" (this looks fake AF). My original was taken without using a look down lens, without proper lighting/high whites, without stabilizing the camera, and with a bad angle on the glass... So some simple techniques and I could replicate something like the vendor pic I'm sure.

BUT, the disappointing thing is to me is the epiphany that main thing that moved the needle was the photo editing software. White balance, exposure, tone, contrast, etc.

I guess my main question is how obvious is it that people are doing this? And is it respected/accepted? Are all the vendors doing this? Or is it more ambiguous, you can't tell when someone is using heavy editing or if it's just a great coral that pops.

Thanks, hoping to learn from this discussion. Appreciate y'all.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Hey everyone...

A bit new to photography so apologies if this is a naive question.

I've seen a lot of great coral pics from various vendors and hobbyists. Something I've realized is a lot of these are simply taken with an iPhone, not necessarily a DSLR or super high-end equipment. I have struggled myself to get comparable pictures of the same corals, even though they look great in my tank in person.

However, the other day I downloaded some photo editing software and was fairly easily (within literally 2 minutes) able to drastically improve the aesthetic of some iphone pictures I had.

Let's talk specifics and examples.... coral is ACI Princess:

This is a great, unique hammer coral with awesome coloration. No denying that. However, the pic also looks... how do I put this... pretty tricked out!

Here's a completely un-edited, "raw" pic of the same coral in my tank:

Obviously doesn't look nearly as vivid/pop as much. Looks fairly bleached out and crappy actually. However, with relative ease, here is what I'm able to do:

We're not quite where the original vendor pic is, but a LOT closer. Obviously I need to adjust colors more to make it look "real" (this looks fake AF). My original was taken without using a look down lens, without proper lighting/high whites, without stabilizing the camera, and with a bad angle on the glass... So some simple techniques and I could replicate something like the vendor pic I'm sure.

BUT, the disappointing thing is to me is the epiphany that main thing that moved the needle was the photo editing software. White balance, exposure, tone, contrast, etc.

I guess my main question is how obvious is it that people are doing this? And is it respected/accepted? Are all the vendors doing this? Or is it more ambiguous, you can't tell when someone is using heavy editing or if it's just a great coral that pops.

Thanks, hoping to learn from this discussion. Appreciate y'all.

Here in BKK vendors aren't good with photo editing so you really do receive a coral that looks almost identical to the online pic...maybe the pic was taken last week and colors are slightly a different shade at most but in America, I'd never buy online. The shop I used to work at had an entire department devoted to photography editing for their online sales and I'd see firsthand the corals in person and the pictures posted.

 

[rtparty]

As cynical as it sounds, I assume every coral vendor edits their photos even just enough to make it look slightly better than it actually does.

 

[Reefer Matt]

I think there is a huge misnomer that a camera captures and processes images like the human eye. For instance, take a picture of a tank without a lens filter. It will most likely be blue. So, imo, some photo editing will always be required. But yes, abuses do occur to prop up sales. The only thing you can do is to see something in person to insure it looks like what is represented.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I think there is a huge misnomer that a camera captures and processes images like the human eye. For instance, take a picture of a tank without a lens filter. It will most likely be blue. So, imo, some photo editing will always be required. But yes, abuses do occur to prop up sales. The only thing you can do is to see something in person to insure it looks like what is represented.

To eliminate the blue, you can adjust the white balance. There's a LOT more than just that done in the vast majority of images I've seen advertised though.

 

[Reefer Matt]

To eliminate the blue, you can adjust the white balance. There's a LOT more than just that done in the vast majority of images I've seen advertised though.

I agree, but some people think it is dishonest to modify past the automatic settings. Most don't understand how photography works.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I agree, but some people think it is dishonest to modify past the automatic settings. Most don't understand how photography works.

Imo, while I don't like excessive photo editing as in making the coral appear far more vivid than it actually is, it's now become so standard that a shop that didn't edit fairly heavily wouldn't stand a chance against those who did. People just wouldn't think there was any comparison.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

I think there is a huge misnomer that a camera captures and processes images like the human eye. For instance, take a picture of a tank without a lens filter. It will most likely be blue. So, imo, some photo editing will always be required. But yes, abuses do occur to prop up sales. The only thing you can do is to see something in person to insure it looks like what is represented.

This is something I'm definitely starting to appreciate more and more. There's a huge dichotomy between what corals have potential to look amazing in pics, versus those that actually look good in your tank with your eyes!

 

[Reefer Matt]

Imo, while I don't like excessive photo editing as in making the coral appear far more vivid than it actually is, it's now become so standard that a shop that didn't edit fairly heavily wouldn't stand a chance against those who did. People just wouldn't think there was any comparison.

Yeah, it has certainly swung to the side of brighter, vivid colors by heavy contrast and saturation. To me, photography is art. But when representing something for sale, it should look as close to reality as possible.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Yeah, it has certainly swung to the side of brighter, vivid colors by heavy contrast and saturation. To me, photography is art. But when representing something for sale, it should look as close to reality as possible.

The irony is that while most people would say they oppose heavy editing (which is common), as I said, I doubt many people would prefer to buy the same exact coral if another vendor posted a pic which had almost no editing done.

 

[exnisstech]

This is what this coral looks like to me. No one will oo and ah over it

I'm confident the masses that live in the digital world and think it's real would prefer this version

Personally I only buy coral online from one vendor due to the fact most heavily edit the photos. I'm not the sharpest pencil in the pack but I'm not naive enough (aka stupid) to believe the colors shown by most vendors are real. Coral images with blacked out back grounds and purple or blue egg crate get an instant pass.

 

[Big E]

It is what it is..............everyone will learn the hard way by experience. It doesn't matter that people will warn you about specific named corals and their colors in real life.

Those hammers are all common place and unfortunately people are starting to find out you can get them anywhere.