Question for Making Better Photos

Lori

Picture first:




My question for those of you that can take great looking pictures. How can I get this coins picture to look better. It is only a PR64 but this picture makes it look almost perfect. I wanted to do a close-up straight on but then the rainbow color does not show up at all. It looks like a dark blob. I have to have the coin in the light just right and then I get a picture like above.

Any suggestions?

Lori

WWW

Lori - I'm still learning to properly image coins, but I can tell you that I get my
best color shots when I use natural light from a north facing window taken
early or late in the day. Best to use a tripod since the exposure times can be
long, especially if you want greater depth of field. Lighting, as mentioned in
another thread, is obviously the key to getting it just right. I know there are
some really good artificial lighting tricks, but I'll leave that to those who are
more versed in that technique.

littlewicher

I also have a terrible time photographing toned coins. Everytime I take pictures head on, it always looks dark and disgusting. I put a piece of white paper over the light source to reduce reflection when the coin is tilted, but I still can't bring out the colors.

shylock

Toned proofs with deep mirrors are the toughest subjects and something I'm always fiddling with. I've seen some straight on images of wildly toned IH proofs done with high end scanners that pick up the color, but lose the mirrored fields. And I've seen some lovely straight on images of silver proofs that pick up the cameo but have more of the classic black & white look, which wouldn't help with any sort of toning. I'm beginning to think the only way to capture both color and mirrors is to image them at the same angle you hold them in person to get the full impact, as you did.

The best digital shot I've been able to get of this proof, with a minimum of angle, still leaves a lot to be desired. The colors are a couple shades too dark and the reflective fields are just barely perceptible. The full slab image below it is closer to what it should look like, taken at a ridiculously sharp angle. Back to the drawing board.

Fairlaneman

Lori:

The crude way I get tone to show is resting the coin on block of wood and then bring the light in from different angles. View the coin with your eye and try to get the camera angle exactly the same as you see the coin with your naked eye. Sometimes this works just fine but with coins that have tone like the one you are showing the luck has been very poor in respect to getting a decent photo. I agree with the others that Natural Light at certain times of the day makes a big difference in the photos that you get. Also the camera I have just does not bring out the color as it is on the coin. Another factor that enters in is the location where you post the coin. Here on this forum the pictures always come out darker than when they are posted at the two other sites I frequent.

Good Luck.
Ken