Coin photo reshoot

LOL, I am such a NOVICE at photography, so I would be the guinea pig to show what NOT to do in photoshoots. But, would enjoy posting RR Litrae, Quartuniciae, and Semunciae!

 

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It's funny, but I immediately knew who the very reputable dealer you were referring to was by the style of his photography. He's definitely a huge credit to the field, it's just that his photos are often light and colorfully stylized. In some ways this can be good, because I can always spot his coins on Ebay searches. I can also usually recognize collector resales of his items when they reuse his photos. This gives me some confidence that I'm not buying a fake. A double edged sword for sure...

 

All digital photos are edited. If not edited by a human after shooting, they are changed by a routine in the camera that decides which parts of the shot detail are thrown out and which parts are saved to be presented as part of the JPG file we call the photo. I shoot what is called RAW images which then are converted in two separate steps before being finalized as a JPG. The first of these steps, the RAW conversion program determines such things as color balance but most users use a built in routine that converts the as shot RAW into a JPG which then can be modified again in postprocessing as desired. Most camera have settings that can change details of how this auto-conversion works. If you are set to save the RAW file, these settings don't change the RAW file but only how it is displayed on screen to aid the worker in making the conversion. If you are set to discard the RAW and do an immediate conversion the settings limit to what degree the file can be changed later. On my Canon cameras there is a setting that allows you to accept what they call a standard situation or make certain alterations intended to make better photos for some specific situations like portraits, landscapes and a few others. I find coin photos look better if set for 'faithful' which tones down the excessive saturation but since I am saving the RAW files, I can change this after the fact without quality loss. Cameras only do what you tell them to do. Most have a setting for auto=everything which generally means you don't want to be bothered with the details and trust the programmer to know more than you do. In many cases, that is the correct situation. I see this as much like the way we accept slabbed coins (or not) with some people preferring not to be bothered by learning whether a coin is worth having or not.

Whether done manually or left to the program, it is the job of the coin photographer to look at an image and decide if it is a fair representation of the subject. Just because an image has been adjusted does not mean that the photographer has cheated and taken 20 pounds and 30 years off of my face. Just because it was what the camera spit out does not mean that the most accurate image of my face is the one on my driver's license. I am not the worlds most skilled photographer and I am not the world's most knowledgeable numismatist. Those who think they are in either category often could use some adjustment.

 

Here is a pretty rugged Egyptian AE drachm which I got on Ebay very cheap. (It was labeled "Hedrian drachma." Top is seller photo, bottom mine. I used a flash. Not optimum results but pretty accurate color.

 

@JK Antoninus : Wow. The seller must have taken the photo under incandescent light and THEN desaturated it. I love the actual colors (although the design is easier to see in the desaturated version). How did you feel about it when you saw the actual color?

 

@Eric Kondratieff : I was pretty confused Eric! The coin is actually a tick darker than my photo. For a moment I wondered if it was the same coin. My eyesight isn't so great. I had to view it under magnification before I calmed down. I like it now that I've gotten used to it. Note the spot on Hadrian's neck which is barely visible on sellers photo. This is from a good seller though, not a crook by any means. I would buy from him again.