Fitz's Finally Fixing Fotos

My experience with colored backgrounds has been that the color tends to throw a cast in parts of the coin making it hard to color correct correctly. It is simple to shoot on black or white and add color if you must.


White can also flare into the lens reducing contrast which is why I prefer black but I realize many of you like white. I guess I should work more on white background techniques but few choose to use my suggestions for black preferring to postprocess backgrounds. I do admit that ringlights can throw enough light straight down the tube making it necessary to clean up the background a bit but it really is not hard if you have the software. Perhaps those not wishing to get that far into it would be happier shooting on a background they like and just leave it in the photo. I'm thinking of a table top with 'personality' one of our number once used. Be creative.

 

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I had noticed the same thing when I used a white background - the coins came out too dark. The black background does seem to come out better, but I don't have a clean black background that I can easily remove. The green colored coins above were taken on a removed green background.

I do like the simplicity of the 'black hole' you use on your website Doug - I've just got to put the time into making such a rig! (And one that is small enough or collapsible so as not to annoy the wife...)

 

I'm red-green color blind, so to me the photos looked great.

 

I use black construction paper for a background, which isn't really black but more like a very dark, pearly gray. I put the coin on a dowel so that the background is out of focus, and I shoot outdoors on sunny days.

When background comes out looking almost black when I shoot a light-colored coin . . .

and almost silver when behind a dark coin:

 

This is an issue you have when you use automatic exposure modes. The camera is darkening the shot with the light coin, and lightening the shot with the dark coin. Manual exposure (and color), for me, is a better option.

 

Okay, so my old camera took a bump to the head and stopped focusing, but considering it was 10 years old, I felt justified in upgrading.

However, I couldn't justify a DSLR, as much as I would want one. I just wouldn't;t want to lug that thing around on vacation, so I opted for another point and click with some better features and an upgrade in resolution. I think I may have gotten better results on my coin photos, but it's best for me to judge by putting the photos up against my old ones. So here we go again!

Old:

New:


Old:

New:

Old:

New:


I think the first coin is a little washed out, but I did have two lamps on that one, whereas I only had one lamp on the other two. I think the results are much better for them, particularly the second coin. Colors look better, but the depth of the old photos might be lacking now... That could be from the old photos being taken at a bit of an angle, and these new ones are straight-on (which can be seen comparing the third coin)

Any thoughts?

 

I like the new ones for sure, except the first blown out one. "Depth" is going to be a matter of the angle of the light against the coin. The shallower (lower) the light angle, the more depth you'll see, but at a cost of less detail of the coin. Ie, you'll see more bright areas and shadows, but in those areas you'll have a harder time seeing detail. So it's a matter of shooting them with lights low, lights high, and different positions around the coin, to find one that's pleasing to you.

 

I guess that depends on how the coin actually looks. On my photoshoots I always have to adjust the balance in Photoshop. The pictures always comes out too bright, so I can't say which ones I like better it all depends on how the coin looks in hand.

 

True - I did opt to use two lamps again for a Richard I issue from Poitou as it seemed to be a more accurate look.

 

i don't know which is better FN, i definately like the new cross reverse better, but kind of like the old obverse better...mainly color. of course, i don't know what the coin looks like in hand.

if sort of giving up trying to make the coins look like it does in hand above making the pic look good in general. my coins look different in my (wood walls, warm lighting) and they do in my family room under sunlight. of course i don't want to add or subtract anything and make a deceptive pic...just the color, contrast, all that stuff.

also, what it looks like on different monitors will be pretty different, so if i work really hard and make it look exactly as it does in hand....it may not look that way to you.

on my own old monitor, the same pic can even look different as i change my head potion slightly.

 

very great topic about background, i am struggeling to
iff i put the coin lay down

thats whye
i put the coins stand to glass and use day light lamp in the night

i like the resultats for me then