How can I improve my photo skills?

GoldCoinLover

I'm trying to get advice on how to make my pictures look better. I take pictures in direct sunlight, since I cannot afford a special coin lighting system. Included are 2 pictures of my sovereign.

MSD61

Hi,

Well you made a good choice in using the natural sunlight for your lighting. I perfer to use the sunlight myself. Next, you must practice. Try to take as many images as you can until you are comfortable at different angles. I suggest using different size coins to get a feel for how the photo will come out shooting different coins. Practice with slabs as well. Above all when you do get comfortable using your camera and are ready to take images of your coins to share with others, take a few images of the coin you are shooting and then select the best image from the set.

Practice makes perfect. Oh I almost forgot you don't need expensive or special lights to shoot coins. A few desk lamps work great! As a matter of fact a lot of the members here that take a lot of photos use 2 or 3 plain ol' every day desk lamps with halogen bulbs (at least 25watts).

GoldCoinLover

Thanks, it's just when I take the photo down under 50 KB it makes the quality very poor.

Aethelred

It takes a while to get a knack for it, but it is well worth the effort. Have you read Airplanenut's essay on coins photography?

theboz11

"since I cannot afford a special coin lighting system." How much can a GE Reveal light bulb cost,,,,$1.50?????????

cosmicdebris

Cropping will help alot too

rhound1977

Actually those pictures were pretty good, you just need to crop them. Also with everyone elses comments.

A tripod also helps so you don't have to worry about holding the camera steady by hand....