Digital coin pics 2 of 3 – Lighting impact on luster and toning
Blade
Posts: 1,744 ✭
This was really interesting. I’m really glad I got one of these flexible lights:
It allows you to position the light in any direction. It worked so well, I am going to buy another one to put at the other end since I can only shine light from the side on 270 degrees of the coin’s surface. To get the best luster, I took pictures using the following lighting scenarios:
1. Directly above, with slight offset to avoid camera shadow.
10c PR High Res - Can you find the mint error? :-)
2. All sorts of side angles. As you move the light around, you see the cartwheel in the luster move with it. Very cool.
50c MS66 High Res
3. Indirect, pointed at nothing (When the coin has too much luster to take direct light)
5c MS66FS High Res
4. Indirect, pointed at white wall to allow more light to come back at the coin
5c Buff MS65 High Res
It’s also fun to angle the light to highlight features. I liked this Saint reverse with the light producing a cartwheel across the Eagle.
$20 NM MS63 High Res
It can also mess with the features. In this first $2.50 Indian shot, I didn’t like the look of the brightness across the front of the Indian’s face. 30 seconds of fiddling with light direction produced the second shot.
$2.50 MS61 Bright High Res
$2.50 MS61 Balanced High Res
Lighting direction had a HUGE impact on toning. Here are 2 pics of the exact same 1945-S Merc (one of the NGC MS68s).
The first pic was shot with the light pointed at the coin at the 12:00 position. Notice how the first one has a deeper blue and does not show the orange toning spots in the upper left field at all! But it really lights up the white down the center, showing more contrast.
10c MS68 - light 1 High Res
The second was shot with the light at the side again, this time positioned at 10:00. The light was directed almost exactly at the orange spots and they came right out.
10c MS68 - light 2 High Res
One other note for the ultra-observant. I am skeptical of these in MS68 so I gave the coin a serious 20X look when I got it. I determined that it is a technical 68, due to a very small hairline to the lower left of the “U” in UNUM. On the first pic you can see the line clearly. On the second, it is virtually undetectable in the toning. Word to the wise, EBay shoppers… good camera techniques can hide the flaws.
It allows you to position the light in any direction. It worked so well, I am going to buy another one to put at the other end since I can only shine light from the side on 270 degrees of the coin’s surface. To get the best luster, I took pictures using the following lighting scenarios:
1. Directly above, with slight offset to avoid camera shadow.
10c PR High Res - Can you find the mint error? :-)
2. All sorts of side angles. As you move the light around, you see the cartwheel in the luster move with it. Very cool.
50c MS66 High Res
3. Indirect, pointed at nothing (When the coin has too much luster to take direct light)
5c MS66FS High Res
4. Indirect, pointed at white wall to allow more light to come back at the coin
5c Buff MS65 High Res
It’s also fun to angle the light to highlight features. I liked this Saint reverse with the light producing a cartwheel across the Eagle.
$20 NM MS63 High Res
It can also mess with the features. In this first $2.50 Indian shot, I didn’t like the look of the brightness across the front of the Indian’s face. 30 seconds of fiddling with light direction produced the second shot.
$2.50 MS61 Bright High Res
$2.50 MS61 Balanced High Res
Lighting direction had a HUGE impact on toning. Here are 2 pics of the exact same 1945-S Merc (one of the NGC MS68s).
The first pic was shot with the light pointed at the coin at the 12:00 position. Notice how the first one has a deeper blue and does not show the orange toning spots in the upper left field at all! But it really lights up the white down the center, showing more contrast.
10c MS68 - light 1 High Res
The second was shot with the light at the side again, this time positioned at 10:00. The light was directed almost exactly at the orange spots and they came right out.
10c MS68 - light 2 High Res
One other note for the ultra-observant. I am skeptical of these in MS68 so I gave the coin a serious 20X look when I got it. I determined that it is a technical 68, due to a very small hairline to the lower left of the “U” in UNUM. On the first pic you can see the line clearly. On the second, it is virtually undetectable in the toning. Word to the wise, EBay shoppers… good camera techniques can hide the flaws.
Tom
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
0
Comments
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
Wonderful pictures! I too have found that lighting is a key to getting the most our of your pics. Lately I've found that you can play with flourescent light and really bring the true look of the coin out, even though it might be a little off kilter:
From this head on shot:
To this under flourescent light at an angle:
And from this head on shot:
To this from an angle:
I couldn't believe that you could get these kinds of results from flourescent - it really brings out the colors on these difficult to photograph coins!
Frank
That is a really cool trick! I still haven't messed with tilting the coins but will give it a try under different lighting conditions. May also see what it looks like in my kitchen with 7 halogen spotlights
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
<< <i>May also see what it looks like in my kitchen with 7 halogen spotlights
Don't set the place on fire now!
Russ, NCNE
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
NOTE: No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
Type collector since 1981
Current focus 1855 date type set
Speaking of lighting and how you can hide flaws (or magnify them): Here are a couple of examples I used in a thread last August. The first is taken with a halogen light. Notice the hairline across the hairbraid. Halogen is a very good light to use when examining coins for purchase. But it has too much "red" in it to make for a good lighting source for toned coins.
Halogen
The next is taken with sunlight which can wash out flaws. You can't see the hairline at all now. Sunlight is "bluer" so it is better for toned coins.
Sunlight
jom
PS: Moral of the story: use sunlight to take pictures you want to sell on Ebay. lol
What an incredibly good post! Thank you so much for sharing. This is just what we need.
I like the idea of taking the light from a flexible angle like that. I bought a clip-mounted light with a "snake" stalk and do something similar. Sometimes getting the hair to stand out or the feathers to stand out is a little tricky.
Your post explains it well!