PhotoFlex Lights revisited more test images

cosmicdebris

This time around I removed the diffusers and here are the results.

Bust Half taken with 1 light and through angled glass:



Morgan Dollar taken with 1 light through angled glass:



Morgan Dollar taken with 2 lights from above:

cosmicdebris

Here's some copper:

Oney

Nice detail......I think the more you experiment with light positioning the better the photos will become ofver time. Depending upon the coin and the luster you will have to move the lights to capture the true essence of the coin. Great job so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IrishMike

Bill, I really enjoy your photos (we need to see more of them). I like the difference in appearance on the Morgans, it goes to show you how the degree of luster depends so much on lighting and therefore how difficult it is too judge a coin from photos.

cosmicdebris

Thanks guys. Anyone else care to comment on these?

K6AZ

That's a big improvement over the images you posted the other day. The copper looks really nice.

Stuart

Bill: Beautiful Images!! That angled glass technique seems to work very well.

stev32k

I really like those. How do the pictures compare with the coins in hand - color, & luster? Are you shooting inside a softbox or or they in the open? What camera and lens are you using, and what are the shooting parameters? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm into photography as much as coins.

Edit: Here's a link to some of coin images I've taken recently Coins These were all taken with a Nikon D70 with a 60mm, f2.8 micro. They were placed inside a diffusion dome (a white lamp shade) and a flash was used on one side with reflector on the other.

cosmicdebris

I use the Canon Digital Rebel SLR with the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. 2 Photoflex Star Lights with Silver dome Boxes.
A Testrite copy stand that I added the top of a tripod to. I hot glued a piece of glass to a book light and set the coins on top of a tupperware bowl with a white sheet of paper under it. Also a bubble level to level it all.

Nice job on your images Steve.

mgoodm3

Nice pics. The angled glass is nice for color but not that great for lustrous coins. I like the harsher overhead lighting, at a high as an angle as you can get. I would move the two lights a bit to separate the luster bands a bit more on that Morgan. they're all at 12 and 6 o'clock.

CarlWohlforth

I like the Bust and the Morgan taken with one light and the angled glass. The second morgan seems darker (funny, there is more light!) and I am not sure (because I haven't seen them in hand) if the copper photos have the right color.

All in all I think your photos are superb!!!! I can learn from your setup and I hope to get my photos near as good as yours one day...

stev32k

That's a really nice set-up, and the DRebel with that lens does an excellent job. I've found it is really hard to get an accurate image of a coin. It's easy to get good pictures, but hard to get one that really looks the same as the coin in hand. I've sometimes taken 25 or more shots of the same coin under different lighting configurations before finally getting one that I thought was truly accurate.

cosmicdebris

Next time I'll try different positions other than 12 and 6.

Yes I take many images sometimes until I get ones I am happy with too. There is no magic formula to get a perfect image every time.

P.S. The translucent Tupperware bowl under the coin helps eliminate shadows around the coin by letting light come up from under the coin.

Casey

The bust image is really nice.

K6AZ

<< <i>Yes I take many images sometimes until I get ones I am happy with too. There is no magic formula to get a perfect image every time. >>



You got that right. I'm working on a PL Morgan right now, probably on my 15th shot of it. I think my record for a coin was over 30 shots.

mgoodm3

I spent an entire afternoon trying to get a nice shot of a lincoln once.