Coin photography and white balance

drjules

Following the Goetz test thread: how much white balance correction do you do with the camera itself compared to post processing the image in photoshop / paint shop pro?

Dr J

elverno

I pretty much go with automatic white balance. That seems to require me to lighten the image in Photoshop after applying auto levels. I've been shooting on a piece of white paper but am wondering if that is skewing my results.

rhound1977

I do my tweaking with the camera, using both white balance and exposure levels, so far I do no altering of the photos other than to crop them.

CIVITAS

I think a digital camera is supposed to be white balanced against a 12% grey background.

I think your processing is going to depend heavily on what kind of lighting you're using.

I'm sure someone else here is much more of a photography buff than I and can offer suggestions.

Cladiator

Josh and Vern are right on the money about the background. Your background color can greatly effect the end resulting photograph. This frustrated the heck out of me for the longest time until I accidentally discovered it LOL. I find a light grey works best for me.

AuldFartte

No wonder some of my efforts turn to garbage
I've been trying to white balance using a white background.
Well ... it seemed logical to me ...

Refrema

Actually it is an 18% Gray Card that it is balanced to. For the White balance to remain consistent, you need the same backgrounds, otherwise the image will usually be shifted to the opposite color of the background. For instance Silver coins on a red background will often tend to be Cyan in color.

Some digital cameras are able to weight the color balance for the center of the image, but you may still have a little color shift. When you pick a gray for backgrounds, be careful, because some dyes used in materials will not photograph the same as your eyes see them.

Bob

Darkhorse

The grey card is a bit of an antiquated thing when you think about it. It was designed so you get the proper exposure for caucasian skin.

WhiteTornado

Interesting, I never knew that.

I have an old piece of blue velvet I use. Any chance that would skew the colors? I'm definitely a neophyte when it comes to photography.