How Good Are My Photo Skills?

9/10 Very Good !

I concur with rmpsrpms in that in the first photo the top edge of the coin is slightly out of focus , that happens a lot in close up photography if the subject is not flat or at an angle ......overall though its a very good shot and the lighting was perfect !

I try to make straight photo's but my camera always covers the light.
I took a new one on my ASE, but I see, kind of fuzzy :(


@rmps, I am not sure.

Thanks for replying and feedback!

The photos look very good, nice details but the coin and the camera must be exactly parallel so that you're showing the coin as it should be.

It's fine to shoot at an angle, but you're not giving a proper representation of the true shape of the coin.

I shoot mainly error coins that tend to be out-of-round or bent when you have a multi strike or saddle strike. I try to use a coin of the same type, year, color and grade to show how the error coin differs from a normal coin. I also shoot with a ruler in the shot if I want to show off a large angle or stretch in a coins strike.

I shoot with a Nikon D-200, 18mm lens, ring-flash for full even light over the coin. But, this can kill your luster. To make sure I get luster I shoot with an SB-900 at an angle with double reflectors. Any light you use needs to be as close to 6200 K (Kelvin) color temperature to get the true color of the subject.

I've found that I get the best results with an ISO of 200 or less. Focus as close to the coin as possible. I shoot with the end of the lens about a 1 1/2" away from the coin, on a tripod and shoot as fast of a shutter speed as I can. My camera will allow with a flash to sync with the shutter at 1/250th of a second. I also use the highest f-stop possible. The f-stop setting makes sure your subject is sharp and focused.

Shoot on background color that best features the color of the coin. I shoot on a black sheet of poster board or rough textured black plastic. (If you have Photoshop or another digital software program, you can change the color to anything you want.) Multi-color backgrounds can ruin a shot.

My camera also has a delayed setting that will not shoot until the camera has stopped vibrating after you click the button. You can also use a remote so that you don't shake the camera at all when you shoot too, but I can't find my remote.

A couple of things I see that I would correct is that the coins in your shots are not level with the frame of the shot. The coin shouldn't be running up or down hill in the shot. Also, make sure the shot is not cluttered by anything else in the shot. Try to cut back on the amount of deep shadow where you should see the coin, if you can.

I measure all angles in the coin. If the coin has rotation of the reverse over 45 degrees, I note that in the description. Most of the time if a coin is off my 2 or 3 degrees, sellers on ebay list this as a rotated coin, but less than 45 degrees is within the limits for most error collectors and isn't worth more than the same coin with no rotation. The best is a 180 degree or medal strike.

One VERY important thing is color balance. If you shoot 12 shots and all 12 have a different a color of the same coin in the shot, it makes the coin look terrible. The color should be the exact same as the coin and that same color in every shot.

The best thing ever invented for making your coin shots look great is software like Photoshop. You can do almost anything with Photoshop. You can setup batch photo color and white balance correction, resize the photo without loosing the REAL color and focus of the coin and about 10,000 other things that I only know about 1% of so far. It does cost a bit. I'm on Photoshop CS5 and it cost about $330 to $1000 depending on what features you need. A note to students, you can get the student edition for much less.

If you're selling coins online, you need to have the best photos you can. You can use software to make sure the coin looks like it does when you have it in hand, but NEVER use it to hide an imperfection or change the color, tone or add marks or otherwise misrepresent your coin.

I have a degree in photography, but with the digital cameras out now, that degree and a dollar will get you a nice photo of a dollar, but that's about it.

I got a great paperback called NUMISMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY 2nd Edition for Christmas and it has some great information on lighting, camera setup and what makes a good photo of a coin a great one.

You're photos are about a 8 out of 10. I think some different lighting and testing muted, solid background colors with only the photo in the shot would make them even better.

One last suggestion, if you can shoot just the surface of the coin, not the plastic holder, you'll get better shots of the coin without false reflections and a line or scratch that's on the holder and not on the coin. You can't remove certified coins, but that's when you diffuse the light.

I could keep talking all night, and sometimes do, but I'll stop here for now.

If you have any question, feel free to send me a message.

Ben

My favorite error coin photo







Ben

I'm going to offer some slight modifications to Ben's very informed reply. Could you let us know what you're using for a camera? We could then offer more bespoke advice.

1) The "color temperature" of the lights is irrelevant in the presence of an effective white balance solution. Does your camera have a "Custom" white balance setting? If so, you can probably use whatever color lighting you wish to shoot the coin, as long as you correct effectively for it. Failing that, many cameras are equally-effective at automatically correcting for outdoor light ("Daylight," or 5000-5500K) as well as Tungsten (indoor incandescent lighting, around 2800-3000K). Your images are a bit "yellow," indicating possibly a wrong white balance setting or a less-effective "Auto" setting. Use your background - always use something monochromatic, white is most effective for determining color but grey/black works better aesthetically in many instances - and let the accuracy of the background color inform you of the accuracy of the coin color itself.

2) The distance you can set the lens from the coin is a function of just how large you want your images, and the focal length of the lens. More distance is always better, as the effectiveness of your lighting (and the options for it) increase with the distance you can achieve from the coin. Those of us with bespoke rigs can shoot at a minimum of 5" or better while still achieving a large coin image; again, your camera/lens combo is relevant to know here.

3) There's an upper limit (largest-numerically) to appropriate aperture. Smaller apertures (larger numerically) increase depth of field, but at some point you hit diffraction, which will limit sharpness, possibly enough to make a difference to you. The diffraction limit changes with sensor pixel pitch and magnification, so knowledge of your specific rig would help here too.

4) ISO is variable by camera, smaller is always better but it also forces longer exposures. Some cameras are fine up to 800 or even 1600 - the tradeoff being excessive "noise" messing up your shot - while others start showing noise as low as ISO200. Exposure values, if you're using a remote or delayed shutter, can be remarkably slow while still achieving a good sharp shot. I'm unafraid to go as low as 1/10 with just about any camera. If, of course, you have kids running around the house like a thundering herd during your shooting session, you might want to stick with fast exposures.

solotime,

I said a lot in that post that is about my style of shooting. As you can see from SsuperDdave's reply, I got some things right and some wrong. The point is every photographer has a personal style that they develop.

I'll be using SsuperDdave's suggestions and studying his work to help my work look better.

As we both pointed out you do good work. If you see someone's style that you like, use it to make your shots look better, but don't copy it. Make it part of yours. I don't think I'll ever be a perfect coin photographer, but I know I'll always get better by studying other photographers work.

I'm developing my style now. It's nothing like my Motorsports work, but it can't be. I graduated at the top of my class back in '81 and won 2 of the 6 "President's Ribbons" they awarded that year. I was hoping to be a great photographer and make that my profession, but it didn't happen.

If you want to know what happened send me a private message some time.

Anyway, my point is only a few make it to the point where they are the best.

I want to get better at numismatic photography. I'd like to be a professional, but I have a long way to go. I don't know where I am now, but I'm working on it every day.

Ben

Sorry for such a late reply but the sunlight isn't that great here.
I only use sunlight for taking the photo's.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!




Bought it as BU but looks AU...

Thank you!

@Ben, I sent you a PM.

Josh