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 Replies: 21 / Views: 4,686 |
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Pillar of the Community
1121 Posts |
I have heard it said that different coins will photograph differently. Here is a classic case. I took some photos with my NEW light kit and my iPhone4, and I was blown away. I thought that they were a 1000% improvement on the photos that I had been taking with my (professional) Kodak set-up. Here is a photo I took with my iPhone4 and my Sanoto lightbox set-up of my Quintillus.  AND here is a photo of the same Quintillus that I took using just the light over the hand basin in the en-suite (and the same iPhone4.  I couldn't believe that the set-up that worked so well for another coin didn't do as well for this one. One size definitely doesn't fit all. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
That is definitely an improvement :) Taking good photos is challenging. Sometimes I'll hit upon the best camera settings and lighting only to have the same setup fail the next day. I think you photo looks even better with a black background... but I'm biased towards solid black backgrounds. :D  (the resolution suffered when I resized it to less that 100k for CCF's restrictions) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
I agree with TIF I too am biased towards the black background.
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Pillar of the Community
 1121 Posts |
I like it too, but I have to ask TIF - How did you put a black background on MY coin?
Edited by Topcat7
09/15/2014 9:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Photoshop or a similar editing program. Kinda looks like some darkening of the coin as well.
You can also get a black background and photograph your coin on that. If worked right, sunlight is pretty good too.
Oh and if you can, get a digital camera with macro. The quality of your photos will be a lot better.
Edited by VisigothKing
09/15/2014 10:34 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Topcat... right-click, saved. Edited in Photoshop Elements, although you can accomplish the same thing with free online photo editors such as Pixlr.com.
There are many ways to edit out the existing background. Some ways work better than others. If the edges of the coin are not crisp in your picture, using an automatic background remover will yield a jagged and pixely edge.
One of these days I'll learn how to use layer masks in PSE but for now I just use a black paintbrush with a slightly softened edge and carefully paint around the coin. It's not very efficient but I've done it so many times that it only takes ~10-15 minutes to fully edit a coin now.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2480 Posts |
Tonight I played around with making a collage. I made a pile of a random selection of my coins-- well, not truly random since I purposefully included most of my better coins. I was just going to use a few and learn how to apply drop shadows for a more realistic look. An hour or two later I had a big pile and I'll probably add more and rearrange.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
Wow, that's very nice. The coins really pop in that picture.
Does anyone have a suggestion for a good lense to take coin pictures with with a Nikon F mount? Something on the less expensive side if possible, but I don't even know where to start looking for macro lenses or what to look for.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
chuy, you might be better asking the question on the photographic forum, lots of expertise there.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
Thanks, I forgot that forum was on here.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Wow!, TIF that photo looks like it can from an expensive reference book. Great photo with beautiful coins.
I wish I could comment on how to take good pictures, but even after all these years I have still not mastered how to take a decent picture.
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Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
really nice picture tif and amaazing coins (we dont expect less of you ;-))
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Pillar of the Community
1121 Posts |
I have solved my problem. The answer is staring me in the face.
I just send my coins to TIF to get perfect shots every time!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Im not the best but I am the best with a point and click Sony Cyber shot.  Edited by Ancientnoob
09/16/2014 10:57 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
I'm horrible...but I've improved a bit over the last couple years. here's the first pic I posted here..   here's the last coin picture I took, a wu zhu of han china...  the picture is pretty good...but the edge of the coin looks bumpy. I used a paintbrush in gimp to do the edge and didn't have a very steady hand. Edited by chrsmat71
09/17/2014 10:05 pm
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Replies: 21 / Views: 4,686 |
Posted 09/15/2014 8:30 pm
