Ancient coin photos

I have been working on updating my coin photo pages and make this image to illustrate how changing the lighting angles changes the images. Which is the better photo of the coin (all same coin)? What needs to be improved to make the 'perfect image'?


http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/coinphoto2011ez.html
Text and photos of the set up are above. This is not an easy coin.

 

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I think I'm a fan of Ring Light Only

 

I am torn between Twist Bounced 1 and Twist + Ring.

TB1 seems easier on the eyes and maybe more natural, but I would have trouble picking up the graffiti if I did not know it was there.

TR is brighter and the the graffiti shows up nice, although to me it looks like you loose some feather deatil in TR.

Ring Light only looks like it is made out of plastic. and Twisted Bounced 2 has an odd color and the graffitti does not show up as nice.

Don't get me wrong but all your photos are actually quite nice, I aspire to take good photos. Maybe I will have it down somday. Mine seem to come out too dark even after adjusting my screen. When they are "fixed" they look washed out and the appearence is less accurate as to what I see what with my eyes.

 

I agree with all of Ancientnoob's points. If I had to pick a favourite, it would be TB1 because it looks the most natural.

Out of curiosity, which one is the coin in hand closest to?

Z.

 

maybe you could layer the pictures and mess with transparency on some of the layers and see how they turn out

 

Another T+R with different angles mostly aimed at better feathers in the dove wing

 

I think the "ring light only" shows off the features of the coin best.

 

IMO the light ring photo provides a good balance between details, contrast, and eye-appeal. (The light ring may also be easy to use). Does the light ring photo resemble the coin in hand?

 

I like the Twist + Ring, though the Right light shows good detail

 

For me a vote would go to twist& ring.
The ring light does show the contours of the pictorial elements nicely. But somehow for me it feels unnatural that both the top and the belly of the lion are in the shade. I sort of expect the sun to come from above. By changing the angle of the focal light you can adapt the way you illuminate highlights as the later photo shows.
Another thing why i like the focal light to come from above is that i am personally quite prone the foreground-background reversal. Especially is the two sides are illuminated from a different angle i perceive elements as incuse easily.

 

I like this one. Right on the money IMHO.

 

yah, but that new example only looks better because it is also twice as large as the other examples ... oh, but again, they all rock (I am merely a fan of the heavy contrast that the good ol' Ring Light Only brings!!)

... I do agree that your 5th example does look very sharp as well (nice photos)

 

'In hand' look is a myth because the way a coin looks 'in hand' depends on what light you are using when looking. The most accurate look for most people is in a dark room with poor lighting but we might enjoy our coins more if we looked at them in a special controlled, bright light. How many of you examine a new coin under a high intensity lamp and how many open the mailer and look in whatever light is on at the time?

I like the new obverse but the reverse bothers me still so it is not the end.

 

The best light I've found is an "Ottlite Full Spectrum Lighting". It mimics daylight quite well, although daylight is my preferred method if possible. I have a horizontal bar light which is a bit of a pain when it comes to photography but I've managed to work around its limitations by using one additional light and bouncing off light specifically using business cards (it's a pretty improvised setup). I have some overhead lights which make my coins look absolutely horrible in-hand.

I use a Canon Powershot G15 with a very small tripod and point it almost directly over the coin. I tend to put the coin on a stack of white business cards and tilt it slightly with a card stuck under the edge of the coin depending on how it's looking in the camera - very slight adjustments make significant differences in images from what I've seen.

Here are a few examples of the "business card + Ottlite" approach:

I took this one at a slight angle to capture the surfaces, making it look just a bit oblong compared to how it really is, but worth it for the accurate portrayal of the coin:


This coin is highly reflective in hand and I think I've captured the luster in the image:


I've been playing around with this image, trying to see where the lighting looks best. It is highly lustrous and slight tilts make it look significantly different, but this is a happy medium I've found:


This image is a bit unique as it uses both the Ottlite and a partly cloudy day with open windows for diffuse sunlight. It's pretty accurate, although it doesn't fully capture the surfaces, but after taking 500+ images, I finally gave up...



My avatar was photographed by Heritage Auctions and I have yet to improve upon it. It is much more lustrous in-hand but I haven't been able to capture the surfaces and the luster at once:



Any critiques are appreciated! I probably spend about an hour every couple weeks reshooting my small collection, sometimes with success but often resulting in me throwing out all of the images in disgust. Ancient coins are not easy to photograph!

 

I have to disagree with this, sort of. "In hand" -- I move the coin around, see the way the lighting angle changes the features, and all of these dynamic images form a composite impression. And that's what I try to recreate with the picture. I suppose you could call it an idealized or optimized picture.

AJ, there is really nothing to critique in those pictures. Stunning pictures of stunning coins.

 

Thanks! To your point of dynamic images: I've seen some auction houses that provide 360º views of their coins. Time consuming to create, but that would be a great way to view them.

 

Somewhere on CT a few folks posted animated gifs of individual coins, coin stationary (in the better ones), light in different positions. It was particularly effective for showing cartwheel luster. Might be fun to try that with some ancients.

(Argh, relegated to surfing on iPhone, on a plane and I can't get the wifi to connect on the laptop-- hate one-finger typing!)

 

dang...those are stunning AJ.

DS...I think I like the ring light best...can't really quantify why...but I do.

AN did some video's of his coins on youtube, like this one..



seeing the light reflect of he surfaces and the high relief as it turns in the vid is nice...just doesn't capture well in a pic.

TIF, yeah! ...higher resolution animated GIF's may be pretty cool for this type of thing!

 

Superb images, Joe! Doug, I like the last T+R adjusted to bring out the feathers the best. Great shot!

 

All the photos are incredible, but that third one (Agathocles tetradrachme?) really just jumps out at me and makes me want to reach into the screen and pull it right out!

Z.