Hoping for Some Feedback

Hello everyone,

I took these photos tonight and was hoping for some feedback and maybe a tip. First with the images:


Gallienus, AD 253-268
Billion, antoninianus, 21mm, 2.9g; 6h; Rome
Obv.: GALLIENVS AVG; radiate, cuirassed bust right
Rev.: PAX AVG; Pax standing left, holding branch in right hand, transverse scepter in left. T in field


I think this one probably should have been brighter. I was only using one lamp when I took it. I consider it the better of the two. I used Photoscape to crop, combine, and paint the background black. I can now see I missed some spots when I did the painting. Very annoying.


Aurelian, AD 270-275
Ae Antoninianus, 21mm, 3.9g, 6h; Rome mint.
Obv.: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG; Radiate bust right.
Rev.: ORIENS AVG; Sol advancing left holding globe, two captives below
In Ex.: XXIS

I used two lamps here. The picture looks off. I don't know how to describe it. The background looks pixelated to me. I used MSPaint to crop and combine. Maybe that's it? Maybe not. I'm much less pleased with this one. I didn't do something right here except use two lights.

I still struggle with getting a solid black background. Is there something else I should be doing? I should probably reread Doug's page. Anyway, thanks for looking and any suggestions.

 

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My suggestion for both is the same. Both are too dark on my screen. I prefer light that falls more on the face than on the back of the head. Both of these show the hair and crown better than the face. Try rotating the light a bit to the right (perhaps from 12 o'clock but not past 2 o'clock) watching for the best detail on the face. It often helps to raise the light angle a bit or to bounce the light off a card onto the coin for a little more softness. I can't give directions for what I would do without being there and twisting things until I see what I prefer. In general I prefer to avoid large shadows on one side and large bright areas on the other by keeping the light softer and higher (close to the lens axis).

 

Listen to Doug. He's our resident expert when comes to image shooting (and some other things).

 

I think both coins are very well lighted in terms of accentuating their details, but I would echo Doug in saying they are a bit too dark. Doug's suggests pre-processing solutions, I'm going to suggest you can achieve similar results in post-processing. Here is your first image with the luminosity curve adjusted in Paint.NET...

 

Maybe it's my eyes, but I think it is still too dark JA. I adjusted the light even more; maybe too much:

 

The problem I see with that level is that the original color is completely washed out. The coin looks like it's made of silver. Some of this has to do with screen brightness. I have my screen adjusted to full brightness, which helps viewing darker coins.

 

We will all just have to agree to disagree. To me, even the lightest Bing version makes the shadows obscure the face and wash out the hair. Sure we can postprocess the thing and make an image that never actually appeared on earth. I built the one below using JA and Bing originals stacked on each other and varying the overall transparency while dodging the face. To me, it is better to light the coin pleasingly to start with and save the postprocessing tricks for emergencies.

 

Excellent suggestions, thank you. I will try again today and see what I come up with.

 

Hmm...looking at the picture I posted today I can see it is way too dark. Maybe reviewing at night isn't a good idea. I played around with the lighting and some of my settings with Gallienus this morning. I opened the blinds to let a little more light into the room and played around with my aperture and exposure a little.

 

Better, but still too dark. I don't think the black background helps. It makes the whole image appear darker than perhaps it is.

 

post-process those pics, and i bet it will look pretty darn good jwt.

of course, you've seen my coin pics...so take my advice for what it is worth.
since i don't have any sort of a lighting set up, i do quite a bit in editing to make the pics somewhat presentable.

 

Thanks. I'm going to tackle these again tonight once everything quiets down a bit.

 

Back at it again today. I took the paper off the lights


This was just with the daylight, it's a typical overcast, English morning.


One lamp with paper and less background light

 

Of your recent trials, I like the third one best (one lamp with paper, less background light).

 

Thanks TIF! I like it the best too.

 

Aurelian's turn.

One lamp w/paper less background light.


Same exact setup just moved the coin a little. I don't like the glare on the top one. Think I still need some more practice.

 

Both of the Aurelian shots are a bit too dark. It is difficult to adequate light the coin without having glare or bright spots. Sometimes I give up and accept some reflections.

If you can't get the light in a position that is adequately axial, try tilting the coin towards the light just a little bit.

 

It appears very crusty in this picture.

 

But it is a very good image

 

Aw, thanks TIF!