General FAQ |
| Question: Who are you? |
Answer: By clicking on  in the navigation menu at the top of the page you will reach the about page where you will find the information.
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| Question: Can I send you my photographs to print? |
Answer: NO!
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| Question: Can I upload some of my own images to your site? |
Answer: Sorry, but no.
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| Question: Do you digitally manipulate your images? |
Answer: In my view the answer is: no, but it depends on what you understand by manipulation. Images that appeared on Chocolate Fish Photos before 2007 were scanned from slides, which means that they already underwent some sort of manipulation as part of the digitisation process. The scanning may sometimes also lead to loss of sharpness, exposure latitude or shifts in the colour balance. If this happened, small corrections were applied in order to achieve a result that came as close as possible to the natural impression. Images that appeared on Chocolate Fish Photos since 2007 were mostly taken on a digital camera. During the image capture, the camera applies hundreds of internal algorithms to translate the optical signals received by the sensor into a raw image file. Apart from these camera-controlled manipulations, I usually only apply slight corrections during the post-processing such as adjustments of the contrast and vibrance or the exposure if necessary. Apart from this there is typically no manipulation on the images. In order to achieve a particular effect for a photograph, I sometimes use photographic filters (polarizer, yellow, etc.).
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| Question: Do you have other images than those shown online which I could buy? |
Answer: Yes. Usually there are only one or two images for a particular subject or location online but often there are others available which were taken from slightly different angles or using different exposure times, etc. If you are interested in a particular subject or location and would like to have a larger selection to choose from, please use the contact form to send a message to Chocolate Fish Photos and these other images can be made available for viewing.
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| Question: Can I obtain a black and white print of a colour image? |
Answer: Yes, you can request black and white prints of colour images. This is a common request and is offered. Simply select the black and white option during the ordering process.
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| Question: Why do your images look so bright/dark? |
Answer: It is possible that your screen is too bright or too dark. You can use this chart below to adjust the brightness and contrast settings of your screen. Ideally you should be able to distinguish all shades of gray. If you cannot distinguish between say 0% and 5% or even 10%, then your screen is probably too bright. If you cannot distinguish between 100% and 95% or even 90%, then your screen may be too dark. If you cannot get both ends of the scale to display properly at the same time, then your screen may have an insufficient dynamic range.
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Ordering |
| Question: How can I order a print? |
Answer:  Private customers can order an image by clicking on the shopping cart symbol above each image and selecting 'Buy a Fine-Art Print' on the following page. This will take you to the layout page where you can choose the size, finish and general layout from the drop down menus provided. After adding the image with the chosen layout options to the shopping cart you can either return to the galleries and add more images to your cart or else proceed to the checkout.
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| Question: How can I obtain a quote/license for commercial use? |
Answer: Commercial customers who wish to request a quote/license for an image should click on the shopping cart symbol above the desired image and select 'Request a Quote' on the following page. You are then transferred to a form where you can enter your contact and order details. If you would like a quote for more than one image you can add them to the light box and send the entire light box to Chocolate Fish Photos. Your request will be dealt with within 24h.
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| Question: Where can I find the image ID number? |
Answer: Click on a thumbnail to get the full sized image. Above the image you now see something like 'IMAGE 30/36, ID# 2690'. The first part in this example tells you that you are looking at the 30th of a total of 36 images in the current album and the second number (2690 in this example) is the unique image ID number.
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| Question: Are my personal details safe with you? |
Answer: Yes! All personal details submitted will only be used to process your order and are not stored in any way or passed on to third parties.
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Printing |
| Question: Will there be any copyright marks on the finished print? |
Answer: Of course not!
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| Question: Can I make copies of a print that I bought from you? |
Answer: No. The copyright remains always with the photographer unless a copyright transfer agreement has been signed during the purchase.
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| Question: Do the sizes refer to image or paper size? |
Answer: The size is always the paper size. Paper and image sizes usually differ and may not match the same aspect ratio. For example, some images are panoramic, so they won't fill the height of the paper. Whatever paper size you choose, the image will be enlarged as necessary so that the long dimension fills the page.
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| Question: What does limited edition mean? |
Answer: Unless marked 'open', all prints of size 18x12 (45x30cm) or larger are limited edition. This means that all prints are numbered sequentially until the edition limit for the particular print is reached. For instance, a 30x20in (60x40cm) print has the edition number inscribed by hand in the white image border as 1/120, 2/120, etc. until the print 120/120 is reached. After reaching the edition limit, no more prints will ever be made in that size. The low edition limit guarantees that your investment is collectible and will increase in value. The larger the print, the smaller the edition size.
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| Question: What paper do you use for printing? |
Answer: For printing you can choose between either a glossy, matt, or canvas surface. We only use museum quality materials with extremely long archival lifetimes for which we offer a 75 year warranty against fading. Upon request we also print on materials such as Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl 285g/m², Museum Etching 350g/m², or William Turner 310g/m².
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| Question: What is the maximum pixel size of your digital files? |
Answer: This varies and depends on the image and the camera the image has been taken with. Most of the newer images were taken with either a Canon EOS 5D or EOS 5D Mark III. The latter has a maximum image size of 5784x3861 pixels. Some images have been scanned from slides and if the entire frame is used, the maximum size is approximately 5600x3730 pixels. If an image has been cropped, however, it will have a smaller size. If you require a particularly large print, please enquire if you desired image is available at your size.
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Payment & Delivery |
| Question: How long does the delivery take for prints? Do you offer express service? |
Answer: The turnaround time for printing is about 2 days and the delivery can take from 2 days to 2 weeks, depending on the destination country and the method of delivery. If you require express service please indicate this on the order form and your order will be shipped using a 24 or 48h courier service for the delivery (at an additional cost).
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| Question: How long does the delivery take for digital images? |
Answer: Digital images are made available for download as soon as the payment has been received. For urgent orders from commercial customers who have previously ordered from Chocolate Fish Photos, the image may in some cases be made available immediately, i.e. directly after placing the order. Digital images sent out on CD ROM take the same amount of time as prints (see above).
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| Question: How much does the delivery cost? |
Answer: The cost for packaging and shipping via priority mail within the EU is €19.95 and to all other destinations €23.95. Express delivery using 24/48h courier services is also available and will be charged at the appropriate rate.
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| Question: How can I pay? |
Answer: Payment is accepted by credit card, debit card (Switch/Maestro/Solo), money (wire) transfer, or PayPal.
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| Question: Do you offer refunds? |
Answer: There can be no money refunds as all prints are custom made for the particular order, but prints or frames that get damaged while in transit are of course replaced free of charge.
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Navigating the Site |
| Question: Why can't I change the language of the website? |
Answer: The most likely cause is that your browser does not accept cookies. In order to maintain the basic functionality of the Chocolate Fish website your browser has to accept at least session cookies (see below: What are cookies?).
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| Question: What are cookies? |
Answer: Cookies are a plain text piece of data that is sent from a website and is put on to your computer. Cookies are often used to store browsing preferences (like the language for instance) or the contents of a shopping cart. Session cookies are deleted once you close your browser.
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| Question: Why isn't the order form working? |
Answer: Your browser may not have javascript enabled and it must accept at least session cookies (see above). Either enable these and try again, or else you can order directly by sending a message to Chocolate Fish Photos, stating the image identification number and layout preferences (size, white border, etc.).
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| Question: What is the lightbox? |
Answer: The lightbox  is a feature which enables you to gather a selection of photographs from the image archives in one place and review them. You can add a photograph to your lightbox by clicking on the "add image to lightbox" button  above the image or by ticking the checkbox below a thumbnail. Once you have finished making your selection, you can send the lightbox by email either to a friend or colleague, or to Chocolate Fish Photos to enquire about licensing fees.
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| Question: How do I post a comment for a picture? |
Answer: Click on a thumbnail and go to the bottom and post a comment. Comments that contain links to other web sites or that look like keyboard accidents will be deleted.
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| Question: How can I send a picture as electronic greeting card? |
Answer: Click on a thumbnail to display the full sized image and then click on the envelope symbol on the top right.
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| Question: Why do you have these little images with security codes on your site? |
Answer: These images are supposed to prevent the automated (ab)use of the ecard, contact and comment features. In the past, spammers tried to use the ecard feature to send out advertising messages, or post links to dubious websites on the comments page. They can still send out individual spam messages, but by having these small images, they have to do it manually which is much more time consuming than if they could access these features through an automated script.
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| Question: What's "New Photos"? |
Answer: This feature shows the most recent additions for a particular album, category or the entire Chocolate Fish site (depending on where you are when you click the link).
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| Question: What's "Comments"? |
Answer: This feature shows comments that visitors posted for individual images. See above on how to add a comment.
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