New camera setup looking for advice????

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by coinguy-matthew, May 19, 2012.

  1. coinguy-matthew

    coinguy-matthew Ike Crazy

    This is the toning on the reverse I made a video because its the only way to show how toned this ike is, I just cannot seem to photo graph it at all, how do i capture the toning if at all possible???? As you can see if you hit the right light this coin lights up like a rainbow.

    [video=youtube;5Z8nkVwEgus]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z8nkVwEgus&feature=youtu.be[/video]
     
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  3. coinguy-matthew

    coinguy-matthew Ike Crazy

    This is another re-shoot i think went well?

    DSCF1466.jpg DSCF1468.jpg
     
  4. Dave M

    Dave M Francophiliac

    MUCH improved! At this displayed size, they're nice and sharp, and at the full size they lose a bit of quality but that may just be the limits of what your camera can do. I presume this Ike is not being shot through either a magnifying glass or a plastic holder?

    Dave
     
  5. Morgandude11

    Morgandude11 As long as it's Silver, I'm listening

    The best thing is a remote shutter release for the camera, to prevent the hand from touching it with shutter speeds that slow. Personally, I like daylight photography best.
     
  6. blu62vette

    blu62vette Member

    A point and shoot like his may not have a remote option so the timer function is the next best thing. Remotes are wonderful tools.
     
  7. gbroke

    gbroke Naturally Toned

    I agree completely with this.

    I also do not use any tricks or gimmicks.
    I use straight light from two lamps. No lightbox, no diffusing of light, and now I even switched to regular light bulbs, from the reveals. I actually realized the reveals were tinting everything pink.
    I do not even use a tripod or timer. It's all about light position, plain and simple.
    I do mess with my white balance on the camera, and that's it.

    [​IMG]
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    [​IMG]
     
  8. gbroke

    gbroke Naturally Toned

    Matthew, this isn't a bad picture at all. This is an improvement over the rest.

    To answer your question about toning...
    Try this, to really capture the color:

    Throw a lot of light at the coin, and turn your white balance all the way down on your camera. It also really helps if you do a little post-image adjustments.

    In my case, I use the auto-color filter quite often. or adjust the brightness/contrast levels.


    Also, my suggestion is to buy two adjustable desk lamps. They are cheap, and are much easier to adjust than the current ones you are using. I paid $12 a lamp at kmart for mine.
     
  9. Morgandude11

    Morgandude11 As long as it's Silver, I'm listening

    This is very good methodology for any kind of photography of still objects. The only thing I do is to leave white balance the same, and I use Photoshop to adjust the exposure balance, rather than the camera's controls.
     
  10. coinguy-matthew

    coinguy-matthew Ike Crazy

    How would you go about messing with the white balance should there be a setting on my camera???
     
  11. Morgandude11

    Morgandude11 As long as it's Silver, I'm listening

    There should be a setting for white balance on the menus.
     
  12. coinguy-matthew

    coinguy-matthew Ike Crazy

    Cant say thanks enough guys im a complete noob when it comes to photography, Im pretty satisfied with the images im able to get out of this setup i think a little more refining and ill be alright.

    Anyone have any ideas on a good image editing software thats not a small fortune????
     
  13. blu62vette

    blu62vette Member

    GIMP is free and some people like it. I have never used it.

    Photoshop elements is about 70 bucks.
     
  14. Morgandude11

    Morgandude11 As long as it's Silver, I'm listening

    Photoshop elements is good ,inexpensive software, for either Windows 7 or Mac. Photoshop is a professional program, and quite expensive ($600), unless you qualify for an academic discount (as an educator, I do). I'd recommend Photoshop elements in any format.
     
  15. PennyGuy

    PennyGuy US and CDN Copper

    Another free post processing software choice is PhotoScape. It is the one I prefer.
     
  16. coinguy-matthew

    coinguy-matthew Ike Crazy

    Here are the photos edited with GIMP which allowed me to adjust the contrast and brightness. It makes the cameo stand out more along with the colors i like it, thank you guys again for essentially teaching me to use my camera....:hail:

    DSCF1466.jpg DSCF1468.jpg
     
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