Playing With My Lightbox

After rearranging the ancients in FFIVN and my collection today, I decided to bust out the light box that Mrs. FF gave me for my birthday last week. The set up was incredibly simple and it the LEDs plug in via USB.
It is a rather large box (like 18x18) so shooting coins was a bit difficult. I first laid one on the base and shot through the hole in the top. It turned out nice but didn't show the true colors.
Example:


When I held the coin up closer to the light source, the coloring showed a lot better. Example:


Unfortunately, holding the coin made me a bit shakey and the pictures came out a bit blurred.

I think I need to get something so that coin is closer to the light source. Perhaps a stack of books or something.

I took pictures of some other coins just to see how they turned out. I think once I get the lighting right, they will look far and above better that what I was taking with my phone previously.

Do any of you use light boxes? If so, how do you get your coins to be in the best light source? Here are some other pictures:


Tagging @lordmarcovan because he was interested in how the lightbox worked out.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

The thing I like about this box is that it has a circular LED setup. I think that should reduce the glare on coins. I need to try it with some shinier coins still though. It also has adjustable brightness, which I didn't mess with yet.

 

I’m pretty sure this set up cost less than yours. It isn’t anything fancy.
Once I figure out a good height for the coins to be at in relation to the camera, I plan on starting to mess with the lighting. I didn’t get much time to myself today(homeschooling 2 kids sucks!) but hopefully I can work on it a bit each day.

 

I’ll get one tomorrow. Time to put the kids to bed!

 

A light box is not the best way to get a coin photo. Numismatic photography is about controlling the light on a coin and a light box is about scattering it all over the place. This may actually work well for a few coins, depending on the finish, etc, but that's more by accident than design, like a broken clock is still right twice a day.

I've attached a few shots of mine so you can judge if you think I know what I'm talking about.

Do you shoot mostly raw, proof or certified coins? There are different techniques for each.

 

That's some nice photography @Denis Richard

 

I have found that many methods work well on coins in good condition. It's the rough-shape bronzes that drive me crazy.

 

I have had more problems with darkly toned coins. By dark I mean nearly black patina. Like many, I seem to spend a lot of time imaging a single coin. More time then I want to spend. I get so frustrated sometimes.

 

Those are great photos @Denis Richard .
I am mostly wanting to shoot my ancients but I have some world coins I’d like to image as well.

 

Love the effect of soft light in all the photos. Have they been enhanced with photoshop ? On the two pence, it looks almost like it was shot with a softbox, but yet, something used to limit where the light flows. Very nice. Offering lessons perhaps ?

 

I find the rough surfaced coins the easiest to work with, as they lessen reflections. All you really need to do with rough coins is control is the contrast and the direction of the light. Here are a few ancient coins with a really beat up surfaces, but still make interesting images.



This image, of Lucilla, needed additional contour dodging and burning in Photoshop to bring out the shapes. With ancients, dodging and burning can be a regular part of my work flow, but always remember to keep it looking natural.





This image is almost right out of the camera, but it took a while to find it in camera, if you know what I mean. The coin grading people would consider this junk, but I love the feel of the image... and it is almost 2000 years old.
I added a bit of FX to the last one, for fun... and again, contrast control is very important for this image.

 

I hear you.. but with the right tools, you can get these kinds of images from very dark coins. Keep in mind dark coins need to be dark in the final image, to look real, but you need to coax detail out of the shadows. .

 

I can help you with ancients.. I've shot a truck load of them. Have you tried axial lighting? I strongly suggest you look into it.

 

Not a softbox, no, but a LEE 216 diffuser. I use a custom made axial lighting setup like this;

 

Where is the lighting in your set up?