Imaging my ancients.

Well guys, I bit the bullet today, cracked open the camera and photoshop manuals, and got to work trying to get some good pics. Here's my first effort - let me know what you think - all criticisms welcome! (More to come in a bit.) Click the image to enlarge.

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Contrast with the the seller's image, and you have two very different coins. I took the above pic with natural sunlight and tweaked the contrast and saturation to bring it almost exactly to the color in hand.

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Your image is better than the sellers, but it is hard to see as it is too dark IMHO.

 

I agree!!

 

Ok, thanks guys! I will adjust the brightness and contrast until I get something better. Maybe the black background is too dark as well. The problem is that they're such dark little coins to start with! But here's another for now...

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What do you guys think about a lighter background? Does this help?

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Black background always makes a nice contrast when the coin is lighter, but in this case I think it is too dark for my taste. The gray seems better to me. I have been using a royal blue background lately that seems to be dark enough to provide contrast, but doesn't seem to darken the image itself. Example is this Aureolius:

 

I'm not sure how the Aurelian got attached.

 

I would suggest using a white background for all of your pictures of coins. Using Photoshop, you can use the magic wand tool to select the background, then invert the selection to get the coin only. Copy and paste the coin into a new file with a transparent background and you can then manipulate it to get the most accurate color image of the coin (by comparing it to the actual coin).

 

You take great pics, Bing! But part of the issue is that my coins just aren't as nice as yours - they're quite dark, and grade-wise only around Fine. I spent a lot of time going back and forth between the images and the coins to tweak the images into looking very close to real life. But I will go with the lighter background.

Thanks IdesOfMarch - I'll try white as well.

 

If you take pictures in sunlight you have to make use of a diffusor like a plastic shower curtain type material. This will greatly help with the exposure. It is good to use a 18% grey background with sunlight.

 

Although you want to get the photos to look as close to the actual coins as possible. Try not to change the contrast or anything, once you do that the photo is considered altered and may not look true to the coin. You may need to use extra lights or a different setup.

 

I turned up the contrast because the lighting washed it out somewhat. But I think Derick's advice about the diffuser will help that.

 

I prefer black backgrounds but have shot gray and white which work for some coins. It is a matter of taste. I prefer shooting on the color you want since the magic wand trick sometimes looks funny when it fails to differentiate between black or white (glare) on the edge of a coin and the background.

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/coinphoto2011ez3.html

I forgot to plug my page.

 

I prefer the black background as well, Doug. Something about it keeps the eye from getting tricked into thinking there are colors on the coins that don't exist. But my pics would be much more professional if I got some better coins, lol.

 

Great pictures - please show more as they are available.

Hello John Anthony,

You obviously have a good talent for taking photos. If you can make the photos look like the coin in-hand then you are doing well. I don't know if I have any additional information that will really help you. Here are a couple thoughts:

A.)
I do like the lighter background color when the coin is dark. The advice of others has been spot-on IMO.

B.)
Using sunlight and the proper setting on your camera is one way to get photos that look like the coin in-hand. I believe this because I have done some sunlight experimentation myself. I promptly got away from shooting/experimenting with sunlight because I wanted to be able to take good photos regardless of the time of day & weather conditions. I guess that my advice is that you stop experimenting with sunlight & do your experimentation with lighting that you can control.

C.)
I like your labels and the font you have selected. I would suggest that you evaluate different fonts & formats very carefully now. You want to start with your best work regarding the labels because if you change it later, all your previous photos will be stuck with the original format and won't match your newer photos. Of course, you might be saving the photo with transparent background & the text may be a separate layer. Once it is a jpg, you obviously lose the ability to quickly change these things.

 

Thanks for your advice, Collect89! The font is Times New Roman, for obvious reasons! But it's a font I've always liked for its clarity and readability.

 

Hi dougsmit => for the record, I think that you take awesome photos ... top-drawer for sure!! (I "love" black backgrounds on almost all coins) ...

ummm, however every and now then I seem to be drawn towards photos that aren't so cut-n-dry, ya know?

example => I love the way that this background makes this particular coin "pop" ... am I wrong?

 

Steve, is that a digital background, or a physical one? I don't think that coin needs anything to make it pop, though. What is it?