I wasn't sure where to post a question about Numismatic Photography. so please forgive me in advance for asking my question here. Can any tell me what I did wrong here? The photograph came out with a lavender color, which I do not understand. I photographed the coin against a flat-white background. I am using a Canon D60 with a 62mm macr o lens. I used a bright white LED lamp and a LED ring light. I am a novice in ISO and f-stop settings. I am thinking that this may be where I missed it. Any advice or suggestion on how would achieve a more natural likeness would be helpful. Thank you in advance
Check your 'white balance'........also, what color are the walls in the room that you photoged the coin? What kind of lighting are you using?
Even though both lights are LED’s they could have different color temperatures. If they are different they will fight with one another giving you unpredictable results. You never want to mix light sources.
Experiment with different background colors. See how the results look with black or gray backgrounds.
Isn't a D60 a Nikon? I use a t3i. First is to set your ISO at the lowest setting above auto. Mine is 100. Then my usual settings are 1/30 speed and and Fstop of 9. Are you using a copy stand or tripod. Is it set to link to your computer?
My bad, typo, it is an EOS 60D. I just got it. Thanks to the great comments, I remembered downloading the manual (374 pages!). It's been 35 years since I had a good (35mm) SLR camera (by coincidence, a Nikon D60). So much to relearn I am using a tripod, but want a copy stand. I hope to build a lightbox to control the environment.
My camera came with a CD to upload to my computer. It is much easier to focus and change the settings. I made my first copy stand. Not anything flashy but it got me by until I found a Testrite copy stand at an estate sale.
As others have stated this is where white balance comes into play. Most cameras have an auto or you can set it yourself by pushing the button and snapping a pic of a blank white piece of paper filling the view finder to set. I have a copy stand with four bulbs in the corners. I got tired of the regular bulbs which put out a lot of light back in my face when they were all on. So I got some other track light type LED bulbs that mainly only throw light out of the bottom at the subject. My first try was this: I was always fighting the blue hue with these so I got the same type with a warmer color temp. Now every picture turns out in this color without having to do anything: Your combination of LED lamps is not what you want. It's very unlikely they're exactly color matched. If you set the white balance for one, it won't be compensating for the other one and vice versa. For best results you need one specific type of light in a dark room. You don't want sunlight or other light sources to encroach on the subject matter or it will throw the whiteness off. You can use multiple lights, they just need to be the same or you're going to fight one or the other.
I use a non-reflective, dark gray background. As much as possible I want the light that the camera collects to be JUST from the coin.
I'm using my copy stand right now. I just looked at the bulbs and they say 5000k daylight for the color in the Peace dollar pic above. They're LED spotlight bulbs.
Since it's been 35 years for you, you'll want to look up the manual ==> http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/9/0300004019/03/eos60d-im3-c-en.pdf page 96 for setting white balance so much to relearn as you stated (or more as the technology 35 years ago doesn't compare to even your 2010 Canon 60D.
Yes, RTFM regarding White Balance. Also, don't build a light box. I've never used one for any of my pictures. I tried out someone else's once and it is much harder to get good pictures with one because the light is so flat. Just use a couple lamps that you can easily move around. Control the other light in the room by turning it off or by pulling shades. Ring lights are of limited use and are inflexible. If you have good, posable lamps, I can show you how to make a ring light out of a piece of paper.
For the best results, use a light source made to produce a specific colour of light, for example, a flash or strobe at 5500K, (with a modeling light, of course.) With an adequately powered flash, every other normal light in the room becomes irrelevant, and will not affect your colour balance or your ability to see your way around the room while you're photographing your coins.