Some coin photos...advice on these?

JoshL

Hi Everyone

I want to take some photographs for my registry sets. Here are 3 examples that I took tonight of some coins I have.

What is wrong with the photos (if anything) and what would you do differently? I know they are large images.

Does the color look right?

I tried not to change anything than cut them out of the original photo and resize them.

Thanks for any advice...

I notice that the images pick up every speck of dust and stratch on the holders.








PF68 ULTRA CAMEO 1899 S$1




1886 MS64 Raibow Morgan $1

KlectorKid

That bottom picture is amazing. The first pic, the Kennedy seems weird maybe its the lighting. It could be me?

ldhair

Really nice.
Please share how you took these pictures.
Much better than mine.

JoshL

NOthing special on how I took...

I laid them on some black construction paper...then placed the camera directly over them - I had two lights. One light was on the right side of the coin and one light was on the left side of the camera.

Using a Canon Macro-Lens EF 100 with a Canon EOS1 Ds Camera.

JoshL

<< <i>That bottom picture is amazing. The first pic, the Kennedy seems weird maybe its the lighting. It could be me? >>



The Kennedy is a very deep cameo...I think that is making it more difficult to capture. The white/bright of the cameo against the mirror? Not sure.

I wasn't happy with that either...but I am not sure why.

Not sure how to do that differently.

poorguy

Canon EOS1 Ds Camera.

If you have anymore change lying around, you could toss some of it my way. That's a mighty expensive piece of soul stealer you got there.

BTW, nice pics. The next thing I would do is learn to remove those scratches from the holders. There are different compounds you can buy for fixing scratched plastic.

Russ

Those Morgans are making me hot!!!!!!!

Russ, NCNE

JoshL

<< <i>Canon EOS1 Ds Camera.

If you have anymore change lying around, you could toss some of it my way. That's a mighty expensive piece of soul stealer you got there.

BTW, nice pics. The next thing I would do is learn to remove those scratches from the holders. There are different compounds you can buy for fixing scratched plastic. >>



Hmm

I didn't know they made anything to remove scratches?

Is that through PCGS perhaps?




Here is a Morgan Reverse...


I can't seem to get the color right...there is a greenish hue - although the entire reverse is colored...it shouldn't have a green tint.

JoshL

<< <i>Those Morgans are making me hot!!!!!!!

Russ, NCNE >>



Hey Russ

I want to take pics of my ShadowAngel collection for the registry. I guess that will take some time. Perhaps one of these snowy days (if we can ever get a snowy day around here).

If you see any coins I need let me know


Will keep working on the photo methods.

Waiting on some rainbows from tonekiller (hopefully the will be here tomorrow! Early Christmas...

poorguy

I can't seem to get the color right...there is a greenish hue - although the entire reverse is colored...it shouldn't have a green tint.

Find the White Balance and do an adjustment. Some call it white balance preset.

Russ

<< <i>If you see any coins I need let me know >>



Always do!

Russ, NCNE

JoshL

<< <i>

<< <i>If you see any coins I need let me know >>



Always do!

Russ, NCNE >>



Yes you do

Have added several that you sent my way!

thanks

coppercoins

Your last image would probably work out better with the white balance preset mentioned before - the slab is the wrong hue too. Something of note, when pre-setting white balance, don't use white. Use the industry standard 18% gray. You can buy a 18% gray card for a couple of bucks at a camera store.

JoshL

<< <i>Your last image would probably work out better with the white balance preset mentioned before - the slab is the wrong hue too. Something of note, when pre-setting white balance, don't use white. Use the industry standard 18% gray. You can buy a 18% gray card for a couple of bucks at a camera store. >>




Image below...again is a bit green. Trying to adjust the white balance

I will try your suggestion.

JoshL

Ok here is a corrected image?

I worked with the white balance...









Better?

JoshL

Here is a corrected image of the reverse rainbow morgan...

Looks a little better

mgoodm3

Nice pics. The white balance on the last is better, but still a bit funny. Most of the good digicams have a custom white balance setting where you can set it to the specific lighting you are using. Use your lights and a white piece of paper. On DCAM moderns a 3rd light can help light them more evenly. Get the lights as close to the camera as you can without getting glare from the slab.

JoshL

<< <i>Nice pics. The white balance on the last is better, but still a bit funny. Most of the good digicams have a custom white balance setting where you can set it to the specific lighting you are using. Use your lights and a white piece of paper. On DCAM moderns a 3rd light can help light them more evenly. Get the lights as close to the camera as you can without getting glare from the slab. >>




Thanks I will give that a try. Yes the camera has a white balance setting where you can choose the different overhead lightning.

I will try some of the suggestions above.

Hard to get that reverse rainbow Morgan...will keep trying.

jdsinva

These are some awesome pictures! All I can say is the folks here on the PCGS board know how to take coin photos. I've learned so much from reading the numerous photo tips & techniques posts, more than any book or magazine could ever teach. I had a class last year in B&W film photography at the local college but digital cameras are a bit of a different animal. I'm still learning and maybe one day I'll have some coins pics worth posting.

Thanks for sharing,

Jeff

JoshL

Here is another Kennedy with some adjustment to the white balance...

JoshL

<< <i>These are some awesome pictures! All I can say is the folks here on the PCGS board know how to take coin photos. I've learned so much from reading the numerous photo tips & techniques posts, more than any book or magazine could ever teach. I had a class last year in B&W film photography at the local college but digital cameras are a bit of a different animal. I'm still learning and maybe one day I'll have some coins pics worth posting.

Thanks for sharing,

Jeff >>



On the Kennedy Photos I am using Adobe Photoshop to adjust the White Level.

You would go under Image - Adjust - Levels...then you have a choice of RGB - Green - Red - Blue. If you move the slider to the right you will see that the yellow or green hue will disappear and you will get a true image of what the coin looks like.

Not adjusting anything else on the photo.

I will post a picture of the setup...

JoshL

I am still experimenting with how to take photographs of coins...so this is just the way I do things

I really don't think the camera has much to do with it. Within reason...

This is what the set-up looks like...






I really need to change the lighting source. But this is what I had handy tonight.

MORGANHUNTER2

When shooting down on a subject- get your lighting over the top- not over camera, but over top of the object. From your set up, you might be able to move both lights a little closer and tilt down on the subjectcheck thru the view finder and see if the hood on the lamp shoes up- if it does barely take it out of the frame. This may help with the green hue you see, as well as balancing the white.

JoshL

<< <i>When shooting down on a subject- get your lighting over the top- not over camera, but over top of the object. From your set up, you might be able to move both lights a little closer and tilt down on the subjectcheck thru the view finder and see if the hood on the lamp shoes up- if it does barely take it out of the frame. This may help with the green hue you see, as well as balancing the white. >>



I will try that.

I guess the biggest problem I am having is keeping the lights out of the picture.

I will give that a try though

Thanks

MORGANHUNTER2

I like the camera set up- would almost think it to be a 35mm slr.

JoshL

I am wondering if natural light isn't the best lightning to take pictures of coins.

I have heard that before.

Perhaps I will give that a try.

This is working pretty good though.

Will keep trying!

jdsinva

When I spoke with the man down at the local camera shop and I posed the question to him about photographing coins, he suggested using indirect sunlight. I did experiment with that, by photographing in a room with lots of indirect sunlight and they were some of the best images I ever produced. However, it's not always convenient to setup for this type of situation, especially in the late fall and winter. Someone also mentioned using a gray card to reflect light and neutralize the color of the light. I have seen this technique used and it provides good results. Thanks for sharing your setup, I see it's not much different than mine. I think I just need to get an additional lamp or two.

Jeff

cohodk

You should get yourself a few OTT lights. They really help to bring out the natural color. I make no color adjustments with photoshop in any of my pictures.

Also, thats a nice stack of slabs you got there.

jdsinva

Excuse my ignorance, what is an OTT light?

Jeff

JoshL

Thanks for the help and suggestions...still learning here!

Yes...what is OTT light?

thanks

coinlieutenant

Pretty nice!

MadMonk

Pretty darn good.

jdsinva

TTT

Can someone enlighten me (us) on what an OTT light is?

Thanks,

Jeff

cosmicdebris

Nice pictures and cool camera.

DorkGirl

It's a brand of light bulb that is supposed to give you natural light. I believe they are a little pricey, but a lot of people swear by them.

jdsinva

It's a brand of light bulb that is supposed to give you natural light. I believe they are a little pricey, but a lot of people swear by them.

Thanks for the info!

Jeff

SilverDollarMan

Thanks 2 ALL who shared their very interesting and informatve post about photography.

JoshL

Does anyone know where to get an OTT light? Does anyone know the real name of the bulb?

I shall try to do a google search

Thanks

cohodk

This is the light I use. I know others, namely Shylock, who takes awesome pics also use this light.

JoshL

<< <i>This is the light I use. I know others, namely Shylock, who takes awesome pics also use this light. >>



Where can you purchase a light like that?

Thanks

cohodk

ott light

This is where I bought mine.