Help on shooting images of the edge of coins

coinsarefun

I’m using the flashlight reflective cone but can’t get the reeds clear. I try more light and then the coin is all washed out. First pic is coin without cropping. Maybe I have the coin to far down inside? You can see the reflection of stars
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Second pic is cropped reeds and coin inserted inside. The second one can’t be the way it’s done....can it?
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Mr_Spud

I’m guessing you just need a wider flashlight with a different angle and you wouldn’t have to crop it like you had to, but I actually like what you did with the cropped picture.

TurtleCat

What aperture are you using? You might also try focus stacking and take the best pics of each. Also check to make sure the flashlight reflector doesn’t have warps or surface defects. It may not be capable of being totally sharp in reflecting.

pursuitofliberty

I also think part of the issue might be you are using autofocus, which will focus to the coin, not the reflection of the reeds.

coinsarefun

@Mr_Spud said:
I’m guessing you just need a wider flashlight with a different angle and you wouldn’t have to crop it like you had to, but I actually like what you did with the cropped picture.

I was wondering that. Also, the only image I’ve seen of a particular medal that I want to get the
edge imaged cropped and dropped the coin image on top separately.

@TurtleCat said:
What aperture are you using? You might also try focus stacking and take the best pics of each. Also check to make sure the flashlight reflector doesn’t have warps or surface defects. It may not be capable of being totally sharp in reflecting.

I have no clue how to stack images......beyond my understanding and patience

@pursuitofliberty said:
I also think part of the issue might be you are using autofocus, which will focus to the coin, not the reflection of the reeds.

I use auto focus but then zoom in and sharpen to get the reeds, the coin becomes blurry.
I’ll check the reflector.

TurtleCat

Stacking can be a pain. But you might make sure you’re around f/22 on aperture just to be on the safe side. You’ll get some softening of the image due to diffraction but you can counteract it (basically) with an unsharp mask function in software.

Broadstruck

I still use the mirrored flashlight reflector.

You could with a lengthier shutter exposure just run around the coin like Speedy Gonzales