Need some photography assistance.

coinpictures

Photography is NOT my forte. I find the terminology, process, and camera setting configurations to be Greek. Bleagh.

That being said, I think I'm getting closer. The picures below are of a Mexican 5 Centavo piece I just received. It's in an NGC AU58 BN holder. The problem is that no matter what I try, I cannot capture the lustre of the coin.

Now, I notice that in order to really see the lustre shine, I have to be looking at the coin with the light reflecting at a bit of an angle, rather than straight on. Then the problem becomes the glare from the light.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

-Dan

lordmarcovan

Your forum name is coinpictures but you're no good at photography?

Wow, there's some irony there.

Your pic looks passable to me. You might try doin' a search for Darkhorse's "angled glass" technique.

lordmarcovan

Hm.

Maybe Darkhorse will come out of Yetiland or Silent Lurkerland or wherever it is he's been hiding, and advise.

Or there's always Cosmic. What do you say, Bill?

You definitely don't wanna ask ME. I have barely graduated from my $60 scanner and still use it sometimes.

ajaan

I think Phil may be Yeti due to his new employment. I've seen him post on the Canadian Coin Resource Site.

coinpictures

<< <i>Your forum name is coinpictures but you're no good at photography?

Wow, there's some irony there.

Your pic looks passable to me. You might try doin' a search for Darkhorse's "angled glass" technique. >>



The name is coinpictures, not goodcoinpictures.

I did a search as you suggested, but the majority of images referenced the threads have long since expired.

-Dan

lordmarcovan

Yeah, I noticed a lot of the pictures have gone red-X.

MacCrimmon

CP, your images look fairly nice 'as is'. You may try adding two light sources, if not already done.

It looks like you are shooting either an NGC or ANACS slab.....frustration will be your portion. The white inserts are a major problem in getting not just the correct color of copper (bronze), but the lustre you also mentioned.

You can only do so much to 'create an illusion' of lustre in the image. Due to the glare issues from the plastic 'sheet' over the coin most people have to resort to some tweaking of the brightness/contrast ratios to alleviate some of this opaque glare......

That said, now you know why PCGSs TrueView only images the coins 'au naturale'.

I have already taken some images of British coins in the NGC slab, outside of the slab (my name is really MacCrackin').... and I will soon dash a few of these same coins off to young Phil for exposure to a digital SLR in the buff. When completed, I'll post a few images of what the differences are between these three options.....hint! the last option will be the best because an 8 megapixel DSLR will clobber a 2 megapixel PS everyday and beyond.

wybrit

For coins that are not recessed into the slab (nearly coplanar with the soft plastic), try using a different colored cover over the slab. The white background makes it very difficult for me to get decent shots.

Here is a primitive example. I use a drawing program to make them now, so there aren't any "rough edges" anymore.