Does background really make that much of a difference?

All my direct ancestors have lived to at least 85 years of age, going back to the time of my great grandparents (I'm serious). So with that kind of luck (provided a meteor doesn't fall from the sky and hit me on the head) I'm already preordering my William the Conqueror 1000th Anniversary of the Conquest of England T-shirt. I figure I could get a good discount if I order 50 years in advance.

 

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I SO want a William the Conqueror coin, but it is out of my price range. I can't remember the numbers involved, but husband is something like cousin 20 times removed to old Bill.

 

Here's one I did not have to re-shoot. A new background, some cropping, and some slight color correction and presto.

Before:


After:


There are one or two tiny areas of the edge that I didn't do as perfect as I would have liked, but I can live with it.

 

To me the black makes the coin "stand out" more?

 

Silver and gold, yes...not so sure the same works for really dark coins. You be the judge.

 

You need lighter backgrounds for darker coins for sure as they already absorb too much light or change the white balance a little?(started photography but had stroke so all bets are off in that field)

 

Black as night.

 

I just procured this piece from John Anthony. This is his image:



I have only a few Ancient pieces in my collection, but have been considering how I would present them as I add pieces to my collection. I already use a template for U.S. and World coins, which is primarily over a black background, but employs some tricks with Photoshop layers to give the illusion the coin is under a spotlight and slightly floating off the surface, and mirrored on the ground before it. Here are two examples:





However, for Ancients, I don't think the above style works as well. A stark black background is powerful and works, and pure white is very honest to the image and is useful online, if not a bit border-less and plain.





So, what I have been considering is adding a touch of color to ground, even brand, the image with a new look to that of my other layout. A pale, soft color that would work with any coin composition without being too distracting, easy on the eyes but without intruding upon the region of the coin image. I came up with the following, which is sharply opposite my pieces on black, a bit different using a color, with a gradient rather than a solid block to offset the cataloging and reference numbers and which gives away to the white backdrop the coin rests on.




I like how the title is in bold Copperplate slightly more in the white, and the obv/rev details are in regular face type moving into the blue-grey gradient. Perhaps I'll do some further tweaking with the scale of the fonts and proportions of the image file, but this may be close to the style I'll go with. Perhaps a wire frame to outline the borders is necessary with white backgrounds, when used on forum posts. I note also that the color isn't so dissimilar to that of the CT look-and-feel.

See what you think from the comparisons above, at least as fodder for how differenet backgrounds make a difference to a coin image.

 

Dammit krispy. I've got to learn how to take pics like yours! They really do the coin justice!

 

Thank you. I use two diffuse low watt lamps (Ikea Janso, currently), wrapped with tracing paper. Angle of the light is quite high to the coin. I also use a macro lens and shoot with the camera mounted to a tripod. The rest is lay out and presentation.

 

So you are the one that got it. I really thought about making a go at this coin, but fought my temptation and decided to let it go. Glad to see it went to a great home. Your pictures are amazing.

PS: What program do you use for the writing?

 

Thank you. I love the piece. JA was very gracious to offer it up. I use a very common and readily available font face called Copperplate and edit in Photoshop.

 

I'm glad you are enjoying it. It is a good looking Hadrian portrait. I would dare say one of the best portraits of him I've seen lately. I may not have gotten Hadrian, but JA did let me have this uncommon Caracalla with Serapis denarius to see me into the new year. The icing on the cake is that this particular one was minted in the months or weeks prior to Caracalla being hacked to pieces by his own troops.

 

I thought these looked quite nice against a black background.

 

good lookin' coins, Noob (and everyone else)

 

Anoob: ALL are wonderful photos retaining a metal look without being artificially high contrast making the basted photos we see all too often.

 

Well thanks Doug, I appreciate that compliment. It means a lot especially from someone who has set the bar high and contributed so much to the hobby.