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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,233 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
The last time I photographed in sunlight it turned out very well, so I decided experiment a little taking photos with one of my Romans. This time it came out really great IMO. This was taken directly in the sunlight, with the coin resting on a piece of computer paper. But even then the sunlight wasn't fully illuminating all of the details (small parts of it were in shadow), so I stuck a pencil under the paper partially under the coin itself, to tilt it slightly so that all of the details would get highlighted. With the sun not fully showing the details, I think it may have had something to with how high in the sky it was (it's late morning right now where I am). Let me know what you think please!  (click to enlarge) Edited by VisigothKing
02/15/2012 12:06 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Good idea about using the paper to fill in shadow detail!  I suspect that brought out more details in the portrait. I like that olive green brought out by the lighting too. The brighter highlights are a little distracting to me, but I seldom get the chance to shoot in direct sunlight--due to the usual maritime overcast here. Have you shot this coin before? It would be interesting to see the effect of different lighting, something which I toy with constantly. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4778 Posts |
Thanks DV! I'm in Florida, so bright sunlight isn't hard to come by (except last week, was pretty rainy). Yes I have a previous photo of this coin. Let me get it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
 Inside, with a weak-ish light source that I still mostly use out of convenience; that may change soon though. Edited by VisigothKing
02/15/2012 12:27 pm
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Valued Member
279 Posts |
Hi I always try to take pics with sunlight then sometimes I use a photograpic program to encrease wavelets and take out details ,about your pics I like both you've posted.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
It's good to see two pictures to compare the effects of lighting. The lighting on your first shot is more consistent across the coin, and the color is better. In the second pic, there is good lighting and definition around the face and legends above the portrait, but the rest of the coin drops off into shadows. This problem plagued my coin photos for a long time, until I stumbled across a new technique. Basically, I shoot the coin at a slight angle to balance the lighting and definition across the whole coin. If I'm careful enough, I can keep the whole coin in focus, then adjust the dimensions in photoshop. I've mentioned this technique before--it's really transformed my photographs. Here's a raw picture, showing the grid I place under the coin on so I can easily fix the angle.  |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
The first image in the direct sunlight is the better of the two. Here in the Northwest good sunlight is sparce, so it's mostly inside lighting for me. I haven't done much sunlight shots and my shots are bad at best. DVCollector that is an excellent picture. How close is the camera to the coin when yoou take your shots? I've tried a foot or so off from the coin to a few inches.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Thanks--my shots are usually around 4" from the coin. I'm using a compact camera with very good macro (Canon SD790 IS).
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
It takes excellent pictures.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Wow awesome coin DV! As for me, I take my shots around 2 inches away from the coin, sometimes a little more or a little less (depending on the coin), to get the best details. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,233 |
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Posted 02/15/2012 12:23 pm
