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 Replies: 24 / Views: 4,088 |
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Valued Member
 United States
234 Posts |
Quote:
Your shots are a bit low contrast, so that's the main thing I'd work on. The focus is a little off, so you can also add a bit of sharpening to help. Here is your shot of 1828 Half with a few minor adjustments compared with your original:
Thanks, Ray. Your edited picture does look better. I'll try bumping up the contrast and adding some sharpening to my next set of pics. Also, I got your email concerning the custom camera setup. Thanks for the quick response. Based on the pictures I've posted in this thread, how much improvement do you think I'd see from upgrading to a setup like the one you listed in your email? Edited by ALP
08/18/2014 09:57 am
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Also, I forgot to mention earlier in the thread- all pictures are of slabbed coins, taken through the slab (if you couldn't already tell).
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4038 Posts |
The pics you're taking are good "raw material" and just need a bit of post processing to fine tune, so if your goal is to publish pics of this size for web, ebay, etc you may not need to upgrade. The advantages you will get with a microscope stand-based setup using a tethered DSLR are: 1) better/faster workflow due to tethering 2) better focus capability with fine focus control 3) better pixel-level sharpness for larger images or cropping of details 4) ability to add high-magnification capability Your lighting and basic photo technique plus existing equipment is already taking you to 80% of the goal, and might take you to 90% with some more work, so you need to decide if you want/need the expense to go further. |
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Ok, I'll keep that in mind. I'll probably hold off on the upgrade for a month or so and work on improving my post processing in that time, to see if it gets me to where I want to be without the added expense.
More pics soon, with better post-processing (hopefully).
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Here's the obverse of the 1837 50C from the first post, with increased contrast and sharpening.  |
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
I worked on the 1828 half obverse pic a little. Bumped up the contrast and sharpened. Here's the new version:  |
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Valued Member
South Africa
453 Posts |
Yup I must agree nice pics!
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Trying some shots with a toned Morgan. This was a bit trickier to get the lighting right, so please let me know what you think and how it could be improved.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
OK, first make sure the coin is not rotated. Reverse is fine but obverse is rotated CCW. Date should be centered at 6:00.
Next, the contrast is still a bit low...
Finally, there are quite a few blown-out highlights. Since you have no crushed blacks, you can drop the exposure a bit to keep the highlights from blowing out. Or, you can add some diffusion to your lights, but if your camera is pushing highlights to white it will probably just increase overall exposure and blow out even more areas. Best is to turn down the exposure a bit.
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Thanks. I fixed the rotation and bumped up the contrast a little more. Also, I realized the WB was a little off. Same photos, just post-processing changes.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4038 Posts |
Try shooting with lower exposure. Your boosting the contrast may have resulted in more blown out areas, but same time your contrast is still too low even on edited photo! The image should have the full available dynamic range on the coin.
Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com |
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
I've been following the advice to lower the exposure and have gotten some improved shots of the Morgan. I'm still not happy with it, but will keep working and will post an update in a day or two. In the meantime, here's an 1875-S Quarter Eagle for your critique and comments:  And also improved images of the 1837 Capped Bust Half:  Edited by ALP
08/29/2014 09:33 am
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I also tried a few quick things with your first pic. I saw that the highlights were being blown out, so I took down highlights and increased contrast in the midtones where the coin looks "flattest". I don't have your coin to compare--does it help any?  Edited by DVCollector
08/30/2014 02:30 am
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Valued Member
United States
234 Posts |
Very nice, DVCollector. Definitely has more contrast than my original picture.
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Replies: 24 / Views: 4,088 |
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Posted 08/18/2014 10:30 am
