Now, you would have to be very naive if you have never considered the notion of your favorite retailers (online or local) editing their images to sell corals or just lure you in. In fact, we have one once popular local reef store that does it so blatantly, it is eye piercing and laughable. Some like our local store, fool around the levels in PhotoShop to get that enhanced color look. Their excuse would be to ‘touch up the white balance’, which is miles away from the truth. The hues and saturation, among level balancing, are cranked beyond repair. Still don’t know what I am talking about? Lets talk basic editing:

Here is a photo of a beautiful Acropora sarmentosa that I have in my system.

Here is one with the levels (white and black) are enhanced where the white areas are getting erased (become blanks or screen).

Here is one with the hue and saturation fiddled to create a fake color look. Interesting isn’t it?

And this one made the famous PFE award. It is where you white balance is so off, that blue color is over-driving the entire image. Or, someone adjusted the blues in the picture to beautify the coral.

There are a lot of things to consider when looking at a coral photo. Look at the background color, if it is all too uniform, there is a chance that its been modified. As well, look at the white areas and black areas. Too white, or too dark and something may be off. Raise your red flag. Also, certain corals have a specific look under regular light. Use that as your gauge when you scan the websites for corals. The reason why the PFE even exists is due to the ability of retailers to con a lot of people with the help of the blue light (or PhotoShop). Its the sneakiest trick in the book, and will sell a lot of corals. The most recent notorious batch of corals to be edited this way are the echinophyllia, or chalice corals. Just look around the web, and you will see what I mean.

So before you drop 200$ for a small 1/2″ frag, ask yourself (or the retailer) if you can imagine that coral under 10K or flash lights. It can be the difference between your major disappointment, or bliss! Until next time!