Critique Images Please

Wilson421

Hi, new to the forums, coins and coin photography in general. I am not a photographer but I have hung around a few photo shoots to get the concepts of fill/diffused light and white balance. By reading the postings on photography in these forums the following images are some of my results. Please let me know how I may improve them.

My setup is: Canon D40 (at least 15 yrs old), 100mm f2.8 macro lens, copy stand made from an old Durst film enlarger & 3 LED lights @ 10, 2 & 12. White balance was set too 4500k to match the lights. I have not processed any of the images other than cropping and conversion from RAW to jpg format. On export from the cataloging software a slight sharpening is applied.

Any comments on the coins and their possible grade / condition are welcome as well. I'm doing this to document a collection and to help decide on whether it's worth the expense of getting the coins graded & encapsulated. Thanks in advance.

Coin1

Coin2

Coin3

johnny9434

I don't see any thing wrong. Looks like a good job to me. Welcome aboard as well

lordmarcovan

Look pretty nice. I love that crusty 1857-S double eagle.

ricko

@Wilson421... Welcome aboard... Those pictures are very good. I would never suspect you are just beginning in coin photography. We look forward to more of your pictures. Cheers, RickO

ajaan

The real question is how do the images compare to the coins in hand?

yspsales

Dang... nice job!

AUandAG

A lot betrer than I can do most days.
bob

divecchia

As @ajaan said, how well do the pictures match to the coins in hand. The pictures themselves look great to me.

Welcome aboard!!!

Donato

Wilson421

Thanks all for the positive responses.

@ricko said:
@Wilson421... Welcome aboard... Those pictures are very good. I would never suspect you are just beginning in coin photography. We look forward to more of your pictures. Cheers, RickO

Funny, when I take pics with my eye device all my images look like junk. I've carfeully read the posts here and tried to mimic what I've read.

@ajaan said:
The real question is how do the images compare to the coins in hand?

That's where I'm having a hard time with it all. It seems that I'm not capturing a luster that I see in hand and reflected I think in other coin images that I see. The colors seem good, but when I try to get luster I'm either over/under exposing or I'm loosing something else. It's a very fine line that I'm searching for. I'm going to play around with broader light diffusion by using larger pieces of material and adjust lighting angles.

jesbroken

Nice photos, welcome to the forum. Look forward to more of your coins.
Jim

AdamL

Exponentially better than mine.

PeakRarities

Pictures are excellent, much better than I could do. Welcome to the forum!

None of those 3 really need to be graded. The Morgan is a low ms and the double eagles are both well circulated. You could grade the de’s just for authentication purposes, if you wanted to sell them online, but any knowledgeable dealer or collector can tell that they’re real. I wouldn’t go out of my way to pay for grading if you’re gonna hold them a while, unless you want to use it as a learning experience

DollarAfterDollar

Seem sharp enough. Might add a touch of light.

spyglassdesign

@Wilson421 said:
Thanks all for the positive responses.

@ajaan said:
The real question is how do the images compare to the coins in hand?

That's where I'm having a hard time with it all. It seems that I'm not capturing a luster that I see in hand and reflected I think in other coin images that I see. The colors seem good, but when I try to get luster I'm either over/under exposing or I'm loosing something else. It's a very fine line that I'm searching for. I'm going to play around with broader light diffusion by using larger pieces of material and adjust lighting angles.

Honestly for as new as you are you are doing an excellent job. Getting the luster in my experience is tough. Kspp playing with the lighting angles and intensity. I find some coins shine better when the light is straight on and others at an angle. You just have to keep experimenting. There is no perfect answer. Also play around with the distance the light is from the coin.

Additionally, gold VS copper VS silver all have very different lighting needs in my experience. So again, experiment like crazy. And, use multiple lights if you aren't already.

After a while you will be able to get something closer to this (this is after 6 months of practice and a little bit of photoshop to enhance it):

lkeigwin

All in all, nice job. Good focus, well lit, balanced light, coins square to the camera. You are smart to work with raw images.

I suspect the Morgan is not as pink as it appears. Maybe it is.

Don't be shy about adjusting images if the results are more accurate. That's the goal.
Lance.

Catbert

I have nothing to add other than a hearty welcome to the forum. So nice to see new members who approach their topic and content well.

gumby1234

Nice photos. I suspect that with some practice they will get even better. I've heard others mention that they use 3 lights to get it just right.

logger7

I'd be confident as a seller that a buyer would know what they are looking at or buying. Those are not pretty coins, and I don't see any luster which can be a real challenge for a professional photographer with a super macro.

Mr_Spud

They look very nice. Less diffusion of the lights would make the luster show up more, if that’s what you are trying to show better.