What should I know about your photography?
The number one goal is to accurately show the coral and its true colors as seen in real life.
Why is photographing corals so difficult?
There are so many factors that determine a coral’s appearance in a digital picture. Not only do you have tank variables, such as nutrient levels, PAR, lighting color temperature, etc., that determine the coral’s color in real life, but you also have the numerous photography and post-processing variables that exist. On top of that, the quality or type of screen from which the picture is being viewed can have an effect on what a coral looks like.
Why do you have different pictures for each coral?
Because everyone likes to look at their tank in different lighting. It is an attempt to show the coral under what most people would consider daylight and blues.
I’m doing my best to avoid disappointment when you receive the corals.
About what color temperature are your pictures taken?
The “daylight” pictures are taken at about 10000K to 14000K. The blue pictures are taken with royal blue, violet, and blue LEDs, so over 20000K.
Why is a lot of the coral not in focus?
The pictures are taken with a macro lens. By nature of this lens, you will not have a large portion of the coral in focus. In photography terms, macro lenses tend to have a shallow depth of field.
With that said, if you look around, you will find polyps that are indeed in focus.
Do you use a filter for your pictures?
Not for the daylight pictures, because it is not necessary. An orange or yellow filter is used for the blue pictures or else it would be near impossible to get rid of the sea of blue light. This is the norm for taking blue light pictures.
*** (12/29/20) We are slowly converting our blue LED pictures to pictures taken with a brown filter. We find that it does not exaggerate colors like the orange and yellow filters. We believe that this should be the industry-wide norm for taking blue light pictures, because it better represents the true color of the coral under blue LEDs***
What camera and lens do you use for your pictures?
It is an old set-up. A Nikon D90 body and a Tamron 90mm macro lens is what we currently use.
Do you photoshop your pictures?
No, we do not use Adobe Photoshop. However, we do use Adobe Lightroom to correct the pictures. If you have seen the RAW images that come from the old camera, you would agree that they would need fixing. But again, any adjustments are done with the purpose of showing the coral as we see it in real life. We are not in the business of deception.
I have other questions about your photography, how do I contact you?
Email sales@coraleuphoria.com with your additional questions!