I Think I Found My Best Setup For Iphonography

Nice!

Very nice indeed. As you have learned, it'S ALL about lighting...

Here is the reverse again after some light adjustment. It's a tad better. I think the surface looks more uniform due to a more even distribution of light. The light is a little heavy at the top. Still practicing.

Hello,

I concur with Ray's suggestion insofar as a dark background emitting less unwanted 'lumens' back into the camera lens.

In an attempt to reduce costs I personally simply use black construction paper ($ 0.05/sheet) behind these shiny-surfaced coins which allows me to cheaply switch and cut to re-size to whichever color/size suits a particular setup...

Regarding the alteration/elimination of the light-box one may wish to consider an idea I proposed and implemented in a CCF USB camera application.

The following URL directs the user to a section within a CCF thread discussing the implementation of white diffuser concave plastic bucket ($ 2 at Wal-mart) positioned about two ft. above a reflective Norse medal. The applicable verbiage using the Norse medal as the substrate appears about one-third of the way down the web page located at:

https://goccf.com/t/88598&whichpage=7

CFL bulbs covered with white copy paper then shine angled upward onto this rounded concave surface providing light bouncing down only from 0 to 40 degrees on each side using the tip of the concave bucket directly above the coin as the 0 degree center point.

From 40 to 180 degrees on both sides above the coin no light originates from the bucket's white plastic surface since I am only cutting out approximately 80 degrees of the entire 360 degree bucket's available surface for reflecting light from the two CFL bulbs.

In summary cutting down on the multi-directional lighting previously alluded to by Ray does assist to provide more contrast and total elimination of this white bucket's 80 degree surface did confirm these findings in my case.

The 80 degree cut-out of the white bucket is just a compromise between the total 360 degree light-box and the 0 degree option (reflective surfaces totally eliminated) etc.

IMO,
Mark

Thanks Darth for the copper pics, just incredible pics for a phone.

Thanks for the new suggestions, Ray and Mark. I will try using the black background with this new lighting setup. I think that covering up the sides of the light box with black construction paper may do the trick. I'm going to continue using this 1887 Morgan as a standard for comparing the different results. Once I figure out which setup works best I will then use it for the rest of my coins. Looking forward to trying this. Pics to come. . . .

I appreciate everyone's feedback on my photos. I've learned a ton here on CCF.

@52Raymo- I was very surprised at how well the Lincoln turned out. I didn't know what to expect from copper. I can say that it appears to be much easier to photograph than silver.

I realized that I had not tried using my 18% gray card with these new Jansjo lamps, so I gave it a shot. I still utilized the light box as an enclosure. I tried shooting without it, but I did not like the results. I do believe the light bouncing off the sides does make a difference, although I still plan on trying to cover the left and right side with black paper to see how that does. Anyway, here is the result, which isn't all that different from an earlier attempt using a 1902 Morgan (see page 2):



It doesn't look nearly as soft as the image taken with a white background, but the more I compare the two images the more I like the higher contrast seen with the gray background. And it doesn't look so different that it appears unnatural. I don't know. I think a combination of the two would produce a very nice image. What do you guys think?

I also tried using a piece of black plexiglass just for kicks to see how it would turn out. It looks like some ghosts are creeping up on Lady Liberty:

Great work Darth!

Side Note: This is my 4,000th post!