Question about pictures posted of corals

[DYIguy]

I'm sure nobody views their tanks with all blue lights- I only do it for a bit in the morning and just before lights out. Is it the camera or one just wanting to show how great a piece looks under all blue. But most pics I see are saturated with blue light. If I'm going to put something in my tank it has to look good with some white light- some zoas look horrible under any white light. Just frustrated and doing my weekly rant

 

[Goodair]

You need a filter, an orange lens for the camera to pick up pictures with blue light better.

 

[DYIguy]

You need a filter, an orange lens for the camera to pick up pictures with blue light better.

I don't need a filter- I can take great pictures with any amount of blue I want and post it looking like I see it- I'm talking about the pictures I see online- why is every picture I see so saturated with blue- those who post pics either need to turn down the blues or use a filter- just sayin....

 

[Goodair]

Can you post some examples

 

[Foxchase]

I don't need a filter- I can take great pictures with any amount of blue I want and post it looking like I see it- I'm talking about the pictures I see online- why is every picture I see so saturated with blue- those who post pics either need to turn down the blues or use a filter- just sayin....

Everyone has different settings to how they like their tank to look. Some like it blue, some white, and some in the middle. It's personal preference. And then some people don't know how to take pictures of corals

 

[john90009]

I only use a phone for my pictures and I honestly don’t have the patience to transfer the pictures to Lightroom to adjust white balance, so it’s a lot easier to throw the lense on. Obviously the picture without the lense isn’t what the tank looks like to the human eye because some optical sensors have trouble with blues. There are a few stores that have tha radions use white leds for a very short amount of time because it is possible to run your tank 24/7 with blues so I think some stores will only grow and color the corals under all different blue lights. I have purchased a few corals from a guy in florida who you would swear the Corals are pictures under all blues and you won’t get exactly that, but dang the corals were even better under the spectrum of the sun outside. Other vendors you get a drab looking frag, so there is deff a difference of those that can and can’t actually depict the corals colors.

 

[DYIguy]

Can you post some examples

As you can see the first pic is with all blue light- the last is with both blue and whites- I can adjust my lights for either pics or viewing

 

[john90009]

For me, when I view this coral under daylights it has the shine of orange and yellow, but I can’t capture the orange I see unless I trick the camera but pumping up the blue leds, and then removing it with the lense. But doesn’t matter how much I try with a phone I can’t get the orange with daylights like I see with my eye, so I throw the blue on. I can’t wait to have t-5 again because they are so easy to get the exact realize colors.

 

[DYIguy]

Same tank, but taken with my camera, not my phone.

 

[DYIguy]

Whites/ blues vs all blue- would I have bought it knowing? don't think so

 

[john90009]

You may like them better with more blues and less whites , and things can always change as it adjusts you a higher or lower light.

 

[DYIguy]

You may like them better with more blues and less whites , and things can always change as it adjusts you a higher or lower light.

Yes, I like viewing with more blues- and I keep my lights with mostly blues, my 'problem' is viewing pics on sites- doesn't look the same as what I see when looking at my tank. It's just frustrating

 

[john90009]

Yeah I tend to avoid sites that blackout the foreground in pictures, and I respect those that take the time to post daylight and actinic pictures.

 

[DYIguy]

No offense to anyone, my 'problem' goes back to my first tank- an aio 13g. everything I read said start out with zoas- so I bought some- the lights I had were either white or blue- so I immediately hated zoas- I've learned a bit and have upgraded lights and added a couple of tanks, I just still get frustrated seeing pics saturated with blue- maybe there are glasses made for viewing pics online for old guys like me that filter out some of the blues lol

 

[john90009]

A lot of vendors sell them, or in my case when I purchased corals from this guy in florida he has his own and would throw a pair in each pack.

 

[brokereefer]

It's pretty simple - vendors post those coral pics under blue in order to get the crazy vivid colors that drive sales. The fluorescence shows more under blues than white lights. And in some situations, those colors can easily be reproduced in your tank as long as you have a blue period on your light cycle.

On the other hand, there are other vendors that go out of their way to manipulate the colors in their pics by turning up certain channels and possibly doctoring the pics. In those cases, you'll never get the coral to look like the pic.

I personally like the look of my corals under blue light as long as it's not over the top. So I don't mind the vendor shooting pics under blues as it gives me a chance to see what it'll look like at its best in my tank. You just gotta know who's being accurate, and who's artificially manipulating the colors. Sometimes it's obvious, other times you know because that vendor has a reputation for doing so.... If you're not sure, it's helpful to ask for a pic under white lights.

 

[Mike S]

Just watched this yesterday and it touches on some of these issues.

 

[DEL]

Just watched this yesterday and it touches on some of these issues.

i was just about to post "go watch coral euphoria latest video". hhahaha. he makes a LOT of sense. back in the day, I never ordered corals online. I wanted to see them in person. main reason, I used to ask shops to turn on their whites a little bit so i can see what it will look like in my tank. one thing to remember, just because it has all those pretty colors, it doesn't mean it will be the same exact color in your tank. everyone's parameters are different. placement plays a role. different brands of lights play a role. and most importantly, the camera used plays a role. I have a 20k/14k look now because I wanna go mostly sps. however, a lpt of times, those crazy colors don't pop unless you add more blue.

 

[erics210]

My 2 cents...
If buying common named corals, like a Rasta Zoanthid, you should really know what to expect colorwise before buying.

When getting something new or expensive, ask for pictures under Blue and Daylight. Almost all LFS will accommodate you. And smaller vendors will to. Some have pics under different lighting on their pages already.
Just have to ask.
Tidal Gardens does a great job of this.

I keep my tank at about 10whites, so not blue blue, but if someone comes for corals I am sure to mention things will glow much more under blues.