Frustrated Coin Photography

Yep pics look good, the only thing I see is the Canadian Dollar looks small compared the cent and nickel you have , try to use the same editing on all coins.

That's true, but in this case the dollar coin has more space around it than the other coins, making the coin look smaller. I would try to keep the same amount of space around all edges for every coin. You could also use the straightening tool in GIMP on images that are rotated to give a more finished look.

Also, I would second @HondoB's suggestion to place the coin on top of a small disk to raise it off the background (smaller diameter than the coin). This encourages the focus to stay on the coin rather than jumping into the background.

But great job with the photos, they look excellent!

Thanks folks! I will plan to crop my images the same from now on. I'm sure I can work with the straightening tool in GIMP but my question is what feature on the coin should I use for alignment - main design feature? date? coin dependant?

I did try using a small pad maybe 1/8th inch thick smaller than the coin to lift the coin for some of the images but then I saw a shadow I couldn't seem to get rid of with positioning things so then I just laid the coin on a paper background printed with 18% gray which I saw somewhere as a good background choice. I see the point though and perhaps that might have explained some of my focus issues. I'll be mindful of that.

One other thing I've been wondering about is image resolution and the effects of image manipulation (scaling, lossy compression, etc). Ultimately, I think you want a result that fairly captures the visual aspects of the coin as well as the actual design detail to a level that allows you to grade or inspect details on the coin and not of the image.

Thanks Zurie - I'll find something to raise the coins up higher then. I guess I was focusing more on a nice image than orientation yesterday. Normally I try to set the coin up to make rotation less necessary.

Took a few more photos today trying suggestions from Zurie and Brandmeister. Results below using just the "proof" Jefferson as well as a pic showing the 1.5 inch lift I was able to give the coin

Although I don't see a difference in focus in this case I still think Zurie's point is correct. The Yamera app is cool but sitting in a chair I can't get up high enough to effectively manipulate it so I went with the auto setting which seemed pretty good.

As an aside I'm getting better at using GIMP. It' a powerful tool but maybe not for everyone.

Cheers!

jbuck turns out I'm a Windows user and only use iOS on the iPad and iPhone. I spent a good part of my life using Unix and then Linux (RedHat) and still use GNU emacs from time to time. The good old days. Retired now and living the life.

I'll check out Paint.net

lahave, latest pics look great! I'll be coming to you for help now!

Ah. The forum user list shows the Apple and Safari icons for you, but I must have misidentified the icon that shows phone or desktop. They all kinda run together in the list.

I may get there eventually.

Excellent!