Home U.S. Coin Forum
Options

Imaging Luster and Color....

LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭
I don't really have any tips, as I am hardly a photographer to say the least, but I have developed my own style when it comes to imaging a coin.
I try and capture what my eye see's, if I can do so, I feel my images will truely represent any given coin.

I don't prefer strong lighting and I don't use anything fancy. I do like dark spots on the coins in my images (many probably don't) as these further enhance luster and color as it glimmers, and is typically how the eye see's the coins. I have flooded a coin with many lights and wound up with a nice bright image, but how often is this how the eye see's a coin?

So my style, capture detail, color, and that elusive luster, that glimmers and sparkles as the coin is being rotated, this one, has very very strong luster,

image

image

image

image
imageBe Bop A Lula!!
"Senorita HepKitty"
"I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter

Comments

  • ConnecticoinConnecticoin Posts: 13,107 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As always, beautiful images!!

    I think they are about as realistic as you can get, and are right up their with the other top coin photogs on this board!

    Do you have your toned Frankie images displayed anywhere? A registry set or "virtual coin album" display of you toned Frankies would be a real treat to see!
  • DUIGUYDUIGUY Posts: 7,252 ✭✭✭
    Don't know dang bout da question but Damn GIRL !! l WOWZERS !! image
    “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly."



    - Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
  • clarkbar04clarkbar04 Posts: 4,978 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'd say you were an exceptional photographer!

    That is what I do, take multiple photos using multiple settings until I see on the screen what my eye sees. If I cant nail it, I post the least visually offensive image. image
    MS66 taste on an MS63 budget.
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭


    << <i>As always, beautiful images!!

    I think they are about as realistic as you can get, and are right up their with the other top coin photogs on this board!

    Do you have your toned Frankie images displayed anywhere? A registry set or "virtual coin album" display of you toned Frankies would be a real treat to see! >>




    a 'virtual coin album'......

    hmmmm.....

    Now there is a idea....


    My Camera is the Cannon Powershot Pro1.... a 8 megapixel point and shoot...

    I often used the auto setting, or the setting on P which allows me to use super macro mode and also play with the white balance. No special lens and no filters.

    Pics are often shot in a sunlit room, however the above were shot minutes ago, lighting is normal house lighting with one flood lamp using a sylvania daylight flood lamp.
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭
    The Cannon is easy to store, non bulky, and always there to capture those unexpected photo oppertunities...

    image
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭
    this thread has been brought to you by HepKitty productions..


    the Hepcats know...


    No SQUARES were used in the making of this thread.
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • BoomBoom Posts: 10,165
    Ooooooooooh, Lucy! I image your style/ technique. image
  • Nice set of images. Realism is what I go after when I take images. For toners I like to bring out all the color, but the color must be on the coin. No juicing here.
  • Nice pics, as always, Lucy. Curious on one point. Are you shooting in jpeg or raw? Just got a new camera and couldn't find a new Pro 1 so got the Canon Powershot S5 IS. It has a lot of good features but only shoots in jpeg.


    image
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Nice pics, as always, Lucy. Curious on one point. Are you shooting in jpeg or raw? Just got a new camera and couldn't find a new Pro 1 so got the Canon Powershot S5 IS. It has a lot of good features but only shoots in jpeg. >>




    I only shoot in jpeg....

    Cause its easier....
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • richardshipprichardshipp Posts: 5,647 ✭✭✭
    Your pics are the bomb baby ! imageimage solid 2 thumbs up.
  • mgoodm3mgoodm3 Posts: 17,497 ✭✭✭
    nice pics.
    coinimaging.com/my photography articles Check out the new macro lens testing section
  • SwampboySwampboy Posts: 13,099 ✭✭✭✭✭


    image


    image

    "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso

  • FrankcoinsFrankcoins Posts: 4,571 ✭✭✭
    Nice photos. You probably should raise the gamma a bit (1.3 or so) to bring out the details that will be too dark on some monitors, particularly LCDs,which don't have the contrast range of CRTs. You sort of have to aim for an image that looks OK on MOST monitors rather than perfect on just a few.


    Slightly brighter image compared with original

    imageimage
    Frank Provasek - PCGS Authorized Dealer, Life Member ANA, Member TNA. www.frankcoins.com
  • SkyManSkyMan Posts: 9,493 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice pics Lucy! As per norm, you've done some stunning images. image
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Nice photos. You probably should raise the gamma a bit (1.3 or so) to bring out the details that will be too dark on some monitors, particularly LCDs,which don't have the contrast range of CRTs. You sort of have to aim for an image that looks OK on MOST monitors rather than perfect on just a few.
    >>




    All my images are edited on a LCD monitor, I haven't used a CRT in a good 7 or 8 years ago.

    Again, I am not seeking anybodys advice, and the dark spots are their by design. They help emphasize the luster and color, this is how my eyes would see it.
    So no, no raising gamma for me, whatever that may mean. Your image started to wash out the color, as can be seen in the two images side by side, the Orange highlites in Frankies head are somewhat lost in your image, this isn't better.

    I am aiming for a image that captures the coins true likeness, and not concerned with 'most' monitors.
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • pontiacinfpontiacinf Posts: 8,915 ✭✭


    << <i>this thread has been brought to you by HepKitty productions..


    the Hepcats know...


    No SQUARES were used in the making of this thread. >>




    imageimageimageimageimage
    image

    Go BIG or GO HOME. ©Bill
  • FrankcoinsFrankcoins Posts: 4,571 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    I am aiming for a image that captures the coins true likeness, and not concerned with 'most' monitors. >>



    Well unless you have run the gamma calibration on your video card, you are not seeing what the image really looks like to others. Making a picture that looks right to YOUR eyes on YOUR
    monitor is not good practice. It's best to be slightly bright than slightly dark.
    Frank Provasek - PCGS Authorized Dealer, Life Member ANA, Member TNA. www.frankcoins.com
  • Cam40Cam40 Posts: 8,146
    Not dissing the HepKitty but, I have to agree with Frankcoin on this.
    Your pics are very nice Lucy,but as my monitor shows your coins tend to look
    to be on the dark side and maybe over-blown on the highlights.
    To see this affect adjust the contrast up and back an notice the little
    detail becoming lost as you adjust +/- on the contrast.
    Frankcoin`s `gamma-corrected` pic, to me, looks probably closer to what
    the coin looks like in hand as oppsed to your slightly darker colorful pics dear.
    Its a give and take thing with showing highlights and not having a pic that looks washed out.
    Trying to find that best middle ground area is the trick I think.
  • MesquiteMesquite Posts: 4,075 ✭✭✭
    Lucy, great photos of a really fine coin. I do have a suggestion for presentation. If you import the images into something like paint.NET (that is freeware you can download off the net) you can straighten up the images and get a uniform background. I think that makes the presentation complete. Just a suggestion. Here are your images 2 and 4.

    image
    There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.
    –John Adams, 1826
  • Be-bop-a-lula, she's my baby!

    Great thread!

    Lucy's stylee is way-out! She has an artisan's eye and is a gifted photographer. Her images, like her personna, just SHINE!

    Some great constructive criticism here too! That black background trick..very cool Mescalito!
    "Wars are really ugly! They're dirty
    and they're cold.
    I don't want nobody to shoot me in the foxhole."
    Mary






    Best Franklin Website
  • SwampboySwampboy Posts: 13,099 ✭✭✭✭✭
    paint.NET.
    Very cool. Thanks for the tip Mesquite.

    "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso

  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Lucy, great photos of a really fine coin. I do have a suggestion for presentation. If you import the images into something like paint.NET (that is freeware you can download off the net) you can straighten up the images and get a uniform background. I think that makes the presentation complete. Just a suggestion. Here are your images 2 and 4.

    >>



    I can do this in photoshop, my images were at angles or different rotations on purpose, to show the luster and color as the coin is being rotated.

    My eyes see the coin in a certian manner, I look to capture that on my LCD monitor on my lowly laptop, if this doesn't look good on other monitors, then so be it.

    I am not seeking input, I enjoy how they come out, and I'll continue to do what I do.

    In photoshop I merely crop and resize a image, then compress it to a jpeg that is a reasonable file size, and thats it.

    Depending on the coin, I purposely want it dark or dark areas, or I need it rather well lit and not so much dark areas.. I examine a coin and I decide how I want to try and capture what
    I see in the coin, and sometimes more light is what I want, to produce a brighter image, but coins with monster luster and color I tend to want darker areas in the coin..

    These examples, needed a more lit brighter image, it looks sweet on my LCD monitor, which it may or may not on other monitors and if so, oh well. So I let the coin speak to me and I then proceed with how I want to image, again, this is my style of imaging coins, and it isn't changing, it may not be for everybody, and thats ok.

    image

    image
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Not dissing the HepKitty but, I have to agree with Frankcoin on this.
    Your pics are very nice Lucy,but as my monitor shows your coins tend to look
    to be on the dark side and maybe over-blown on the highlights.
    To see this affect adjust the contrast up and back an notice the little
    detail becoming lost as you adjust +/- on the contrast.
    Frankcoin`s `gamma-corrected` pic, to me, looks probably closer to what
    the coin looks like in hand as oppsed to your slightly darker colorful pics dear.
    Its a give and take thing with showing highlights and not having a pic that looks washed out.
    Trying to find that best middle ground area is the trick I think. >>



    The difference being, I have the coin in hand, and the gamma corrected image doesn't portray the coin as accurately shot by me under the lowlit light conditions that were purposely used.
    This coin has incredible luster, amongst the best my eyes have ever seen, and it truely glimmers and sparkles when it is rotated, and those images show that.

    I could easily use some more lights or even shoot during daylight, which I often do, and create a brighter image which would still look good, but this monster was yelling at me to capture the luster/color that my eyes were seeing, and this isn't a easy thing to do. And it is my opinion, that this one came to life in a lowlit setting..

    I have held 5 ms67 PCGs Frankies in my hands at different times, owning 4 and making the grade on 2 of them, and this 57 rivals those coins as far as luster is concerned.

    A MS67 PCGs Frankie, or atleast the ones I have personaly owned, made, seen, have tremendous knockout luster, and this 57 has that type of Ultra GEM Stunning luster, so what may seem
    like the luster/color areas are over emphasized isn't the case, rather it is a very accurate capture of the beauty and monster luster of this Franklin.

    the Gamma corrected image, atleast on my monitor, loses some of the Orange highlites found in Frankies head, and loses some of the golden/yellowish neonish rim color found on the Obverse, which simple sparkles and glistens as this one is being rotated.

    Again, I have the coin in hand.
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter


  • << <i>image >>









    That's a sexy Franklin. The toned '51 a couple posts up, too image
  • pf70collectorpf70collector Posts: 6,731 ✭✭✭
    Nice coin photography and video. I haven't reached that pinacle of coin photography myself.
  • PawPaulPawPaul Posts: 5,845
    imagenull [/IMG]

    ....how'd you like to do your thing on this 61-D 'lil boop ?
  • LucyBopLucyBop Posts: 14,001 ✭✭✭
    i dig the dizzy color on that one..


    green is very very sweet!
    imageBe Bop A Lula!!
    "Senorita HepKitty"
    "I want a real cool Kitty from Hepcat City, to stay in step with me" - Bill Carter
  • STONESTONE Posts: 15,275
    Awesome coin LB image

    Love the colors and the pictures you take. Hope the foot gets better.
  • PawPaulPawPaul Posts: 5,845


    << <i>i dig the dizzy color on that one..


    green is very very sweet! >>



    the color of money and emeralds ..........image

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file