so this month i am dedicating to getting better pictures of my coins. i am going to be posting photos i have taken and how i took them. i am looking for input, good or bad. but if bad, please tell me what you think is wrong and what i can do to help correct it.. thank you. the first set is taken without a tripod, outside in good natural lighting. i used a nikon 12mp point and shoot, with macro on. i only used photoscape, to edit them. this was my first time with this software. i think the reverse turned out better then the obverse. the coin in hand still has all of its luster. first is the reverse of what i started with.. there you go. i am ready to be ripped a new one, with how bad these are. i am working on shots with my new tripod next..
Pretty good, I take mine out of the holder to photograph them. Also, I'd make sure the background is a solid color
Not bad, just need to take them out of the 2x2 before you photograph the coin, as it will reduce reflections and give you better image results. nice work, keep it up. :smile
when i was shooting them outside it was a spur of the moment type thing. i was getting some shots of my dog. when i put my coins into the 2x2's i use tape so in case they get placed on top of each other, there is less chance of scratches. its hard to get tape off the 2x2. i am going to take the walker out of the stapled 2x2 and use my tripod and see if i can get some better pictures of it. i am working on a mercury dime i found in a roll right now. after i get that done, next is onto getting my toned coins. the walker was labeled au. i would agree with the detail, but there are a lot of deep scratches i didn't see at the coin show. o well, it was my first purchase at a show and only $8. thanks, for your input. anybody else with idea's or opinions, let me know.
For the OP's and others' reference, there are many excellent threads by CT members who demonstrate a lot of insight and experience in this area: Numismatography Book Review – Numismatic Photography by Mark GoodmanGreat Coin Photos! How do you take them? Photoshop your pictures to make professional looking images Diffused Lighting Coin Photography (Capture the Color) How Best To Photogragh Coins Axial Lighting System ... Or Not Axial Lighting (continued) Lighting direction when photographing ancient coins Scanning coins
wow thanks for taking all the time to post these links. i am going to go through them and see what i can take and use. i would still like to keep this thread open, so i can post my pictures, till i get it just right... if thats ok? i am still not happy with the way the pictures don't show the luster the right way. the obverse just looks real dull. the reverse is better but, still not right. it looks as though i overdid something when editing it. i also think the lighting is not right. at the top of the coin, it seems that is were the light is at. making just the top look right. i can not get as good of shots as i was getting outside, so i guess i am going to have to wait for daylight. using my tripod and some things i learn from those links, tomorrows pictures should be much better.
Pretty good. I have been playing with a rig for proper distance, lighting etc. But the difference between copper and silver and the lighting variences elude me. You seem to have a darn good start !
Actually they look pretty good to me and it is impressive to me that you took them without using a tripod. If I tried to take close-up pictures without a tripod, then they would look all blurry because it is hard for me to stand perfectly still while taking a close up picture. Besides getting a tripod, the only other things that I might add is to take pictures of the silver coins outside to get a "true" look of the silver coins. Getting several different shots of the coin's features is also a good idea too IMO.
i am really surprised, i don't have steady hands at all! this camera is really cool, you can shake the camera pretty fast and it will still take a clear picture. obviously if you did that, it would not be good enough to get a detailed shot of a coin. but factor that into normal handling and i think that is why it turned out well. these were taken outside, but where i was on my porch was good for lighting but not great. the light seemed to hit the top half of the coin more. i placed the coin on my porch railing and was standing when i took the pictures. i did get more of the features, but just posted one raw shot for reference. i am going to get back to sleep for a few more hours and get betters ones with my tripod when the sun is up. i also read the threads that were posted and got a better idea for taking the shots. also my editing of the pictures was just guessing and playing around:rolling:. now that i read the threads, i know what i need to do, to edit them right. lets hope the next set, turn out better! thanks for the help everyone!
You will get better. It just takes practice. I also take my pictures outside but sometimes I have to take them in certain places and place my objects just right to get a "true" look of the silver art bar that I am taking a picture of. The lighting is a factor for me too and I take that into consideration when I take outside shots. I end up messing up a few times and it will take me several tries to get it "perfect".
Great idea. Maybe Peter and Doug can do something about that for us. The topic comes up all the time with regards to coin photography and some of the forum sections are too general encompassing every topic on coins. It would make a browsing search of past threads easier if there was a respective category for coin photography. :smile
i used my tripod for this one. i took them outside, and made sure the lighting covered the coin evenly. i am happy with the way i am getting the photo's to show detail. i am still struggling to show the luster. i finished the mercury dime i found in a roll. again i am very happy with the detail, but the color is just not right. i can't get the luster perfect. the actual coin has darker tone around the word "liberty", then what is shown in the picture. also has a dull luster elsewhere. my pictures just look flat, i guess is the word to describe it? maybe i just need more trial and error? the walking liberty i am working on again, this time trying to show that it has all of its original luster. well here is the merc. please let me know what you think, i welcome criticism and hope for it, as long as you can help correct it!
The pictures of the merc dime are very good IMO and I noticed that the detail of the pic is much better. I guess that the tripod helps. With silver it is sometimes hard to get the exact "true" look when taking outside pics because if there is too much light, then it will create a shine that will not show all of its detail. If there is not enough light outside, then the silver will not look like it has any luster. I would say to continue to more pictures for practice. Take a few more pics outside with the coin at different angles. It's ok to mess up. When I take pictures of some of my bars, I do not get it right the first time around. When I look at the pics that I took the first time around, I end up not liking them and I end up deleting them from my camera and re-taking the pictures. I mess up a lot sometimes because I want to try to get a "honest look" picture of my silver bars. Sometimes you have to practice taking pics of your coins to develop a "feel" for what the coin should look like. The picture of a coin that shows luster along with the details can be hard to do sometimes and it might take several shots to get it to where you feel that it looks right. I still think the pictures look very good and the tripod probably improved the picture taking.
