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:)

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 :biggrin:

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 :-)

I understand why people take pictures top down. They look great, I love them, but they don't in any way influence me whether or not to buy a coral.

I've been burned before buying corals (SPS) based on top downs. Almost any coral looks great from top down, but not so many look good from the front, how I like to view my tank.

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

What's with all the top down pictures?
 

Iam sure most vendors will provide you with multiple pictures if you request for it, we at MJC always try to provide a close up picture , a sample frag and a mother colony shot!!! Brap Brap !!!

It's sounds more to me that either the coral was misrepresented in the photo or things cha.ged from the time the photo was taken to the point where it reached your door. I have yet to see an ugly coral take a nice top down, the colour has to be there.

What's with all the top down pictures?
 

I love top down views mostly because I'm a zoaholic. My issue with buying online is the colour in pictures always look way better than I can make them look in person lol.

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

Many acroporas are like that. Purple Valida for example is gorgeous from the top, but not that impressive from the side.