Who is the "best" coin photographer
STEWARTBLAYNUMIS
Posts: 2,697 ✭✭✭✭
By representing actual color, luster
And proper lighting
Paul Houck aka Shylock
1
STEWARTBLAYNUMIS
Posts: 2,697 ✭✭✭✭
Comments
Brandon Kelley from Anaconda
EAC 6024
I can tell you all one thing
It's not me!
Does it matter? There are a BUNCH of people taking very nice photos these days. The results today are so much nicer than years ago. Some of it comes down to taste and preference. We have several here who are great. Tom Bush, Mark Goodman (he literally wrote the book), Lance (lkegewin), Phil (it's a real feat to maintain quality and turn huge volumes) .... and I know I'm forgetting most of them. No offense!
I'll just say that the money I pay Todd @blu62vette comes back to me 10 fold or more on the coins I sell and I have yet to have a buyer return a coin or say it was misrepresented. Time for some GoT now
There are so many good photographers, each with their own style. MessyDesk, Blu62vette, Keigwin, robec, airplanenut, TomB, and even Kryptonitecomics (before he went rogue) come to mind. Non forum members include Phil Arnold and Mark Goodman.
Those are my "Four Horsemen" as well. I would also add messydesk to the list.
No question Lance is the best.
Like others, I don't think there is a single best photographer, but there are a lot of very good ones with different skills, styles and inclinations. The ones mentioned are all good.
Many of the photographers mentioned are still active, but one I miss is Brandon Kelley. He runs his own store now, Best of Yesterday Collectibles, but he does not appear to be very active:
http://bestofyesterdaycollectibles.com/category.asp?cat=all
Here's his photo the Sirna Moose which I'll always remember. His standouts for me include a few other Morgans and the pink toned Saint.
Yes, also Messydesk, Robec, airplane nut, spacehayduke, Todd, and certainly others.
Not ricko, well, maybe....... never seen his work.
There are some VERY good photographers mentioned.
Some things to think about:
Some are better at certain types of coins (silver vs copper, untoned vs toned, raw vs slabbed).
To me, some over expose, or use way too much lighting or post-production "adjustments" and others leave it as it comes out of the camera. I prefer a photo that looks like the coin, but even that is touchy as sometimes you may want a straight on shot vs a slanted/lit shot (for toned coins or really showing luster).
So, rather than get into a "this person is better than that person", I always look at the pics that are shown and make my own judgment call based on what you like. Some don't like what Phil (PCGSPhoto) does, but I like his shots. He has always done an excellent job on the ones I have sent to PCGS for photoing (other than a couple toned SAEs that I had to get reimbursed for as they were forgotten to be photo'ed when I sent them in and were already in the return mail before I got a notice that that order was done
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I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
Who is the "best" coin photographer
Me!
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
Whats the purpose?
Numismatics & Photography
rv@ravenumismatics.com
Instagram.com/coin2photo
The awesome thing is all these great coin photographers are nice people, gladly share techniques and also care about your coins.
...maybe to get better deal from Paul's competitors...I never had much luck negotiating a lower vig from any Shylock I crossed paths with
The coin photography displayed here on the forum is amazing - and there are many top notch photographers as indicated above. Photography itself is subject to an array of nuances in lighting, color, angles etc. So a picture is a created product, not always representative of the subject 'in hand'. Just as pictures of lovely ladies, they may be enhanced. Cheers, RickO
Utility might be the key attribute. The best will be able to adjust technique to respond the the use of the photo. Further, they will be able to duplicate this because physical principles they understand the physical principles behind light and camera/lens technology.
Thus, the "best" can photograph a coin for maximum detail, then repeat to emphasize some desired aspect such as luster.
It depends on "what" you want imaged. Each one has their own gifts, I don't think that there is one "best" imager.
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Some of the best coin photographers out there do not photograph other peoples coins.
They do photograph their own coins for sale to maximize profits on their inventory.
They do buy coins with horrible photos on the internet and then bring them in house to rephotograph and then resell, a very profitable venture.
In regards to who is the best, I would think that is totally personal preference. I have used Todd for all my images for the past few years and it's not just his photography (which is FANTASIC) but also it's the ease of working with him. I'm not a high volume dealer, but every show I go to he treats me the same with my 20-30 coins as someone who has 400 coins to photograph. I personally think he is the best and I plan to work with him for many many years to come.
I will agree there are some amazing photographers out there though. I can't take a good coin image to save my life even with the right equipment. Finding someone like Todd was a great blessing IMHO!
A few years back, Shane consigned some of my toners to Heritage. Luckily they allowed him to provide his own pics. In all honesty a few of them were more colorful than I remembered.
IMO, there are to many categories to have one overall, all encompassing photographer, No one is the best at everything.
for example, micro photography, full photo, toning, color, B&W, silver, copper
I have seen some that no one could touch in their specialty, some would could turn a brown coin into red with the proper lighting. Lately I have been very impressed with PCGS Coinfacts in the amount of clear detail with their photos.
I remember seeing and impressed with the ANS photographer, incredible detail.
Kevin
I've used a few and results are impressive. Couldn't tab one as "the best" for reasons described above.
Todd is highly recommended.
Owner/Founder GreatCollections
GreatCollections Coin Auctions - Certified Coin Auctions Every Week - Rare Coins & Coin Values
@ianrussell
Ian, I'm curious....do you use Todd, or someone in-house, or a combination of in-house/external photography for coins you have on GC?
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
We actually had a contest a while ago, with a pretty purple/green toned Morgan Dollar that was shipped from one person to another. It became more about style rather than contest of "better/worse"...it's a bit like art, some like look "a" some like look "b", and so on.
Raeleen does all the photography at GC (she is my favorite by the way, Todd is second). Todd trained Raeleen back in 2010 or 2011.
Owner/Founder GreatCollections
GreatCollections Coin Auctions - Certified Coin Auctions Every Week - Rare Coins & Coin Values
But how many actually looked like the coin? With some exposure NPI, one can readily identify a photographer just from the pic/s they post.
Also with practice, one can learn how to read another person's/site's pic and get a feel for what the coin really looks like. possible to score smoe bargains that way.
For accuracy in most coins I would throw Mike Printz @FinallyHere into the mix. I think there are many people who take amazing pictures within different specialties, dark copper, toned copper, toned silver, etc... but for surfaces and luster, Mike.
Through the slab = Robec @ robecsimages.com
Out of the slab = Phil at PCGS Trueview
My Coin Blog
My Toned Lincoln Registry Set
Lance, Phil, TomB, and Jenna @ DWN are my personal favorites...
Numiven - my true purpose is to weed out photographers whose images misrepresent coins
Todd blu 62 Bette is a hell of a photographer
However the disturbing image that comes to mind is the 14d in 66+ red that was represented on the Heritage web site a a dull off color coin. The misrepresentation came from the coin facts
Web site to change the color and luster.
I remember not to long ago when some images were photo shopped. Some of the early Goldberg and stacks catalogs had colors of coins unimaginable.
Lance, @lkeigwin is unquestionably the best I have ever seen. If you want to capture how a coin truly looks, he is your man. Just look below! It is not easy to capture a full slab shot that looks as good as the coin only. In fact, I think it is impossible, except for Lance.
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Todd has done some incredible work for me. He also is very good to work with.
Larry L.
Ok. Thanks for the reply.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment