What's with all the top down pictures?

[Madreefer]

I'm with ReeferRob. With the amount of flow required in an SPS tank there's too much surface agitation and reflection of the lights to actually get a good view of the contents in your tanks. I prefer looking thru the front glass. Plus I'd have to be over 7' tall to look down at my tank

[FishyFishy!]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

I'm with ReeferRob. With the amount of flow required in an SPS tank there's too much surface agitation and reflection of the lights to actually get a good view of the contents in your tanks. I prefer looking thru the front glass. Plus I'd have to be over 7' tall to look down at my tank

It's pretty simple I think. It's easier and clearer when doing a top down for most vendors. If you want a side picture, all you have to do is ask and i'm sure 99% of them would gladly take one for you.

[Madreefer]

Depends on how you look at it. If a vendor really wants to sell something than maybe they should provide both. If they have so many hours in the day to be sitting on the site I'm sure they have time to take pics.

[Aquattro]

I prefer top down also. Gives a better representation of the true color. And I have a viewer and a step ladder for in home viewing Although, I find most of my pieces look the same through the front glass, as I'm kinda looking down on them anyway.

[jorjef]

I just prefer quality stock, don't really care how it's shown as long as it's shown accurate. I have corals angled towards the front on my tank to view better (lobo's brains etc.) After looking a billion and a half pics on the internet I can tell fairly close how it will look dimensionally when it arrives...lol

[Madreefer]

Well it all stems down to ones own preference.
We all try to create a piece of living art in our homes. Some like to look down on it and some directly at at. I guess that's off topic though from OP

[Kraken]

Im pretty sure its because most frag tanks that are meant for making frags and selling are lower and not too tall as it is just easier and more efficient to work with. No one will intentionally make a fragtank thats 30" tall.

[Reefer Rob]

LOL, I guess I should have included a poll: Would you buy a coral based on a top down picture?

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

LOL, I guess I should have included a poll: Would you buy a coral based on a top down picture?

i personally would and do, but i admit for certain corals i would like a front on view

[kien]

I'm in the top-down crowd as well. Let's face it, a lot of corals (most of them) look like crap from the side. I like to take top down pics and use them as desktop wallpapers to remind myself why I go through all the trouble of trying to keep SPS in the first place

Sure, you don't get to see your corals top down every single day, but that's why you take top down pics ! So you can sit down at your desk or your phone or tablet and view them whenever you want.

As for the vendors perspective, their number two priority is to sell stuff (number one would be to keep stuff healthy and alive). They are really no different than any other industry that sells stuff based on how stuff looks. They need their stuff to look as awesome as it possibly can, and that means top downs. Open up catalogue or a magazine. All of those swimsuits sure look good, but in actual practice most of them are crap. They're just photographed very well :-)