Capturing rainbow toning: Any lighting suggestions?; happy medium elusive

RGL

To really capture the colors, I end up with glare:



Get rid of the glare and the colors are not as vibrant:



Do I need more lighting? More even lighting? More diffused lighting? I have played with a lot and still have a quandry. Thanks ...

poorguy

More diffused lighting?

There ya' go slim.

mgoodm3

On proofs you're gonna get some glare for slabbed coins. The key is to minimize it and equalize it. Good diffuse even light is good for that. Photoshop can remove some of the glare with a bump in contrast.

Conder101

The first thing you will really need to do is get it out of the plastic.

In order to get the most vibrant colors you need a point source white light that contains all of the light frequencies coming in at the proper angle. The problem is that as the light comes in at that kind of angle it gets smeared out across the surface of the plastic as glare. In order to eliminate the glare you have to change the angle of the light so that it comes in at a steeper angle. (But not too steep. If it is too steep you get reflections of the light back up into the camera.) But when you do that you lose vibrancy of the colors.

Glare can also be reduced by difusion of the light but this also reduces vibrancy of the colors.

CarlWohlforth

I get the best colors when I have the coin at an angle in light that comes in my window. Yes, it is best out of the holder, but that doesn't help me when my coins are in a holder There are certain times of day when I get the best photos, perhaps this has to do with the angle of the sun and the layout of my windows? Anyway my advice is to try natural light.

edited to add: that glare is not that bad, I like the photo and coin very much

JrGMan2004

Try this... take your lamp below the level of the coin, point it upward, and use a piece of computer paper to reflect the light back down on the coin... you'll have a little glare, but it'll be even, and can be removed in a photoediting program I've used it to great effect on several toners... example: