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Hey Russ....thanks again for the photo tips (160k)

LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
Below is my first attempt at the Russ method. We met at the Boeing show. He told me about his set up. So, today I went to goodwill for 2 lamps and freddies for reveal lights. This setup was 1/3rd the price of a single Ott light (about $15)!

I've really been having trouble with proofs and RB/Bn coins. The pic below represents multiple attempts with a near red RB 1887 DDO (top) and a single attempt with the Russ setup (bottom). I think you can see the difference! Shylock can attest to my frustration trying to get a good pic of this coin for his web site. I still like the Ott light for red coins. Will try the Russ method on the proofs when the banks reopen next week.

Anyway, thanks again Russ!!imageimage

image
"My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.

Comments

  • KlectorKidKlectorKid Posts: 3,723
    R they compressed alot? cause they look small and the pixels look weird.
    image
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes.....from 4,000,000 to 160K....out of consideration for the dial up folks. If you want the entire file, email me your address.
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • ClankeyeClankeye Posts: 3,928 ✭


    << <i>and freddies for reveal lights >>



    What does this mean, Tim? Looks like you are heading in a good direction.

    Clankeye, the deadweight attached to Mrs. Clankeye
    Brevity is the soul of wit. --William Shakespeare
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    Cool. Glad I could help. And, thanks for letting me fondle that beautiful IHC.image

    Clank,

    It means he went to Fred Meyer and bought GE Reveal light bulbs.

    Russ, NCNE
    eBay consignment sales | | Collectibles from Resco CCC
  • ClankeyeClankeye Posts: 3,928 ✭
    Oh man... oh man, do I feel stupid. Nevermind. Wait... I knew that... really.

    Clankbrain
    Brevity is the soul of wit. --William Shakespeare
  • goose3goose3 Posts: 11,471 ✭✭✭
    Russ,
    for those of us that missed it, post it on here! post a pic of your set up!
  • ClankeyeClankeye Posts: 3,928 ✭
    Yes, please. What Goose said.
    Brevity is the soul of wit. --William Shakespeare
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭


    Here is a better pic, if interested (Klectorkid??).

    Link
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • jomjom Posts: 3,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
    OK, what is Russ' method? Do tell, do tell.

    jom
  • dwooddwood Posts: 821
    YEAH! I want to OFFICIALLY request that Russ post his method, or email it to ME!

    I've seen a picture of his setup, but I want to know EVERYTHING he told sammm!

    Please?!?

    Awesome pics Samm!
    dwood

    "France said this week they need more evidence to convince them Saddam is a threat. Yeah, last time France asked for more evidence it came rollin thru Paris with a German Flag on it." -Dave Letterman
  • KlectorKidKlectorKid Posts: 3,723
    Thanks, a very nice pic,! and coin for that matter!
    image
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If your not getting sick of them, here's another, the 1883 S1 MPD in 66BN. The close up is posted in the forum (How Many Are There) located at the Fly In club website. (http://www.flyinclub.org/)

    1883Link
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • KlectorKidKlectorKid Posts: 3,723
    I like lusterous BN's they look really classy, older than RD's and also more natural IMO. (RD's r natural also but I just think it shows it age more)
    image
  • DanCDanC Posts: 1,189
    You're doing pretty darned good with the copper there Bubba... image
    Coins currently for sale
  • IrishMikeIrishMike Posts: 7,737 ✭✭✭
    Great pix Tim. Let me know when you feel you have completely mastered the technique. I'd love to get a picture of the 80 I bought at FUN. LOL image
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    Sorry about the delay, I had to go take new pictures.

    image

    image

    The fact is there is no magic formula or esoteric secret to it. I'm just a grunt. Clank has seen me shoot coins. I just keep beating on it until it looks right, than try to remember what I did, so it's less work the next time I shoot a similar coin. Since I shoot a lot of proofs, those are easy now. And, I've done enough color coins, that those are also less work than they used to be.

    I use anywhere from one to three lamps depending on what I'm shooting. And I use different wattages, 40, 60, 100, again depending on what I'm shooting. The nice thing about these desk lamp thingamajigs is that you can move the lighting around any way you want it and leave the coin in one place.

    Here's a taste.image

    image

    Russ, NCNE
    eBay consignment sales | | Collectibles from Resco CCC
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Russ:

    Forgot to mention the GE Reveal lights - I tried just the 60 watt - thanks for the reminder re: different wattages - Hey Clankeye - they're on sale at freddies, 25% off....image
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • dwooddwood Posts: 821
    What's that camera mount? And what kind of camera are you using?
    dwood

    "France said this week they need more evidence to convince them Saddam is a threat. Yeah, last time France asked for more evidence it came rollin thru Paris with a German Flag on it." -Dave Letterman
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    Dwood,

    It's called a copy stand. I bought it here for $41. I use a Ricoh RDC-4300. They can be had for about $100.

    Russ, NCNE
    eBay consignment sales | | Collectibles from Resco CCC
  • dwooddwood Posts: 821
    Ahhhhh....B&H Photo. That's all my wife needs to see...I'm now buying from B&H to support my coin habit!....If she survived the initial shock, I wouldn't survive her reaction. B&H has been getting my money for years! image

    Thanks for all the effort and explanation Russ!
    dwood

    "France said this week they need more evidence to convince them Saddam is a threat. Yeah, last time France asked for more evidence it came rollin thru Paris with a German Flag on it." -Dave Letterman
  • ClankeyeClankeye Posts: 3,928 ✭
    Okay, that's better. Russ and Lake Samammman, hope you don't mind me posting a picture I just took. Amazing what you can do with an inexpensive dig camera and a desklamp. This was hand held. I need to buy a tripod. I am really looking forward to getting better at this. Really appreciate all the information you guys share. Clankeye

    image
    Brevity is the soul of wit. --William Shakespeare
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Beautiful....hand held, eh?? Shylock was the first to point out to me the advantages of the tripod and shutter release w/o the motion unsharpness from doing it manually. You'll really like it once you try it. Looking forwarad to future picture posts....image
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    If I tried it handheld, you'd think you were stoned looking at the picture.image

    Russ, NCNE
    eBay consignment sales | | Collectibles from Resco CCC
  • jomjom Posts: 3,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Russ: What settings did you use on your camera? I did a post on this some time ago and Shylock and I tried some different things. He got one of those special lights that didn't work to well. I used sunlight and really helped the nickel and silver coins with tone. Shylock had success with the blue lights (forgot the name???) and I bought one but never got around to using it. Also, the white balance with a regular incandecent helped but still wasn't as good as sunlight.

    My basic problem was getting good shots of toned coins. It was VERY difficult because the incandenent light was too "red" so to speak and did photograph well. Sunlight (and supposedly this blue light) has a higher color temp that helps the toning photograph.

    jom

    PS: Here's the old thread. Shylock had another post going around the same time but I can't find it. image

    Photos
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Shylock had success with the blue lights (forgot the name???) and I bought one but never got around to using it. >>



    Jom,

    Are you thinking of the GE Reveal bulbs? They're blue in color, and they're what I use. With them I set the white balance to incandescent, and they produce correct coloring most of the time. One thing I've discovered, though, is that getting the right coloring also depends on the intensity of the light. This is why I use different wattages and different numbers of bulbs for different coin types.

    Russ, NCNE
    eBay consignment sales | | Collectibles from Resco CCC
  • jomjom Posts: 3,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes, that's it! Reveal!

    Yeah, I've done the same but, like I said, I haven't got around to using that stupid blub I bought. No time. But the sunlight did make a difference.

    I did, however, notice something inteseting. I noticed that the sunlight washed out all the "problems" on the coins. It hid hairlines and the like. The incandecent show the hairlines quite well. The moral of the story is: Don't view coins you want to buy in sunlight! image

    jom
  • shylockshylock Posts: 4,288 ✭✭✭
    Lakesammman sent me some of his revised RB images and they're sensational at full resolution, a huge improvement. As he said it seems like the Ott lites are best suited for red coppers with solid reflective fields. Some RBs absorb that stronger light -- especially at the brown, high relief points -- resulting in mushy detail. The Reveal bulbs provide a more gentle wash of light for those.

    Here are 3 different versions of Lakesammman's 1897 "1-in-neck" which show how his images have progressed over the past year. This has been a particularly tough coin to capture. The first image on top is a very early one, before he had the white balance down. The second on top is with the Ott-lite and the mushy detail I mentioned. The bottom image is obviously the most accurate using Russ's tips: 1897 S1 "1-in-neck" PCGS MS64RB

    On the other hand, this blast red 1897 he recently acquired is a perfect coin for the Ott-lites, with solid reflective surfaces: 1897 PCGS MS66RD
    Paul <> altered surfaces <> CoinGallery.org
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,381 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Shylock:

    Thanks for posting those pics. The ultimate test is, is the picture an accurate depiction of the coin?? The 1897 MPD picture (3rd version) actually looks like the coin!!!! Same for the 1897 66R. I sure wish there were a "this lighting works for everything" formula but, as you can tell, there isn't. So, keep experimenting until it looks real.

    My favorite quote of the thread:...I haven't got around to using that stupid blub .....makes me laugh everytime I read itimage
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose.
  • jomjom Posts: 3,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Blub!? lol I guess I should check my spelling a bit beter.

    ....wait..uh...minute.... D'oh!

    jom

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