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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,579 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
880 Posts |
So since I'm getting a tad better (taking a lot more than I'm posting) I figured I'd try something a little different. I wanted to try something a bit larger because my lens just doesn't let me get close enough to the Jeffersons for when I crop. So this photo is completely raw. I've only cropped and resized. First thing I notice on the larger coins is lighting is much more noticeable. But that could also be because this coin is VG at best so I don't know. ... CRITIQUE!!   |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Now you're getting someplace.  Was this shot at a greater distance from the coin than your nickels? There's a noticeable difference in focus quality. It's a touch overexposed (to me); I'm thinking 1/160 or 1/200 versus the 1/125 you used. Or, drop to ISO200 or even 100.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
880 Posts |
It was at about the exact same distance as the nickels. Sort of explains the problem with the nickels now doesn't it?
And it is over exposed! I couldn't get it right, but that's because I dont know enough about DSLR's. I will try some of those settings when I get home from work today.
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Valued Member
Australia
193 Posts |
I'm no coin photography expert (that's why I am lurking here hoping to learn something) but I think those photos succeed in showing the coin very well.
I think you have captured the detail well enough to allow someone to make a fair appraisal of it.
The other purpose of photographing a coin, as I imagine it, is to show it off as a pretty thing, and I think the angle of light coming onto the coin can make a difference there. Of course, only a pretty coin to begin with would be prerequisite for this purpose.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
880 Posts |
I think you're right about being able to show them off. I have a bunch of nickels I'd love to show off, but I jsut cant photograph them like I'd like to. This is the nicest Morgan I own (in my opinion just because it's a CC) or I'd show off some larger coins with luster. It has deffinately been easier to capture a larger coin so far. I'd hate to try a Half Dime :) |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Quote:
It was at about the exact same distance as the nickels. Sort of explains the problem with the nickels now doesn't it? Yes, but only "sort of." At the same distance, a Morgan will of course be far bigger on the sensor than a nickel. Therefore, to get a Morgan image of the same size posted here, you're farther from "original size" than the nickels. The Morgan might be slightly blurry at full size, as the nickels were. How are you physically shooting the images? With a timer, so you're autofocusing and then clicking the shutter? Or are you tethering to a computer now? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
880 Posts |
I'm on a 2 second timer. I dont have room where I'm currently shooting to put the laptop next to the camera and tether it.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
OK. Depending on how your eyes are working these days (it'd be difficult for me ), try a series of manual-focus shots to see if you can come closer. The metering setting shouldn't affect autofocus, but just in case, change it from Pattern to Spot. |
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Valued Member
United States
380 Posts |
Very nice Morgan... much better results than the Jeffersons... just for kicks and giggles, can you post an original full photo without crop of both the Morgan and one of the Jefferson's? I think that will Illustrate better what we are talking about.
Also, I agree... I typically get the best results from the very lowest ISO that I can possibly shoot. If you are controlling the light, then why not add some more and really lower that ISO!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
880 Posts |
Why not newb. I'll add the last lamp I have and turn down the ISO. That's something I just didn't know about. I can't post a full shot of the Morgan because the file is too large to upload to Imageshack. So I turned the quality down from 100% to 90%. I feel it's still pretty accurate.    Edited by lukkyseven
07/19/2011 1:25 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
OK, a couple quick thoughts.
First, with the right software, you can turn Quality down a whole lot lower than you have and end up with a usable picture. You have never seen an image posted here by me, which wasn't saved at more than 85% Quality (in the Gimp) before I posted it. I keep the originals, of course, but I expect to need to downsize in terms of quality. The larger the image, the lower the quality - I've posted stuff here at 70% that received compliments for quality. An uncalibrated computer monitor in the eyes of a non-graphics-professional isn't capable of displaying that much difference in the images, and if it could you'd find the difference acceptable.
Second, don't lose sight of the goal. You're using a non-optimal solution to try and reach into the (usually) inaccessible realm of "high-quality" coin photographs. Don't be afraid to cultivate postprocessing skills to make up for your camera/lens limitations. I tell you plainly, a lot of times I do in the Gimp what I don't feel like prying out of my camera, and I'm getting good enough with the Gimp so I have to be cautious about allowing my photography skills to degrade.
Postprocessing is that good.
I'm guessing the Jeff pics you posted above are uncropped, downsized from fullsize images. There is nothing about those images which can't be fixed in the Gimp and posted here to rave reviews. Your goal is an 800px image with reasonably sharp focus and accurate representation of the coin's actual luster, color and detail. I don't care how you get there, and if you do, you're in the top 5% of coin photographers.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
880 Posts |
I tried messing with GIMP, but I'm so used to Photoscape that it's causing me some issues. I think I'll attempt to give it another shot simply because Photoscape doesn't seem to be cutting it.
And yes, I'm learning to realize that I'll have to be post processing a lot. My wife wont let me get a new lens so oh well. My goal is not to be admired, published or anything of the sort. It's just simply to be able to show the coin good enough on a website :)
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
You can reach your goal easily with the equipment you already have. It's time to concentrate a little on the postprocessing end. A few things to concentrate on are listed below - don't attempt to learn the whole darn program, just the features relevant to you as a coin photographer. The terms I use are based on the Gimp, and may differ slightly for the same function in other programs.
1) Cropping
2) Scaling
3) Levels
4) Hue & Saturation
5) Sharpen Filter
6) Save As quality
Those pretty much describe my entire interest in postprocessing.
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Valued Member
United States
380 Posts |
Regardless of which post processing software that you use, they will all pretty much have those 6 things in them.
Anything more than those, and then it really gets into the whole, "Am I photographing a coin, or am I making my own piece of art?"
If you're just photographing a coin, then you should be all set. I think you could get the hang of GIMP with no problem.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,579 |
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Posted 07/16/2011 06:15 am
