Playing With My Lightbox

I coax and I coax till I turn blue. Generally I end up using software to make the image as close as possible to the coin in hand. A couple of examples, one of which I no longer own:

 

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I think the top is pretty good @Bing. I would've cropped the finger out and put it on a black background But the coin itself looks pretty good IMO.

I am thinking the issue you had with the bottom coin is the direction of the lighting.

That's why I thought the light box would help. But @Denis Richard crushed that dream today haha.

 

I no longer own the first coin, but when I did, I had it cropped and the finger prints were gone. But the second coin I tried in all sorts of lighting and from differing angles. This was the best of a few hours work. I'm no photographer. I don't even try very hard with camera settings because I don't understand them. I leave settings alone and do my best. I do not like using seller's images, so I guess I just keep stumbling along.

 

it's behind the diffuser. It's parallel to the coin face, pointing at the glass. I use a 500 watt Elinchrom studio strobe.

 

I'm in the process of making some tutorial videos on this subject. I'll post a link here. For the moment I suggest researching axial lighting. It does require some basic equipment to make it all work. Coin photography is a macro job so a DSLR with a 105 mm macro lens to start. Ideally, a copy stand too. As I mentioned above, I use a 500 watt Elinchrom studio strobe to illuminated to coins. The key with the studio strobe is a strong modeling light. At least 300 watts or you can't see and adjust the fine gradation of light across the coins that make all the difference to the capturing the image.

 

Wow - I really love those photos @Denis Richard .. spectacular!!

 

Thank you.

 

This is very interesting. I've been experimenting with axial lighting, though not with the professional material that @Denis Richard uses.
As I'm not that handy with post-processing (except for increasing or decreasing contrast and brightness using the default photo application of windows 10), I try to make a) the background as dark as possible by photographing in an entirely black custom made photobooth and b) keep the light as much as possible on the coin, and not around.

I use a Nikon d3200 with a cheap Cosina macro lens. A few examples on dark, shiny, small and big coins (in that order):


Shiny:


Small:



(small and concave ... difficult! Used a very small aperture of F22)

Large:



With relatively simple tools, you can make nice photo's if you use the photo technique of @Denis Richard - axial lighting. I've posted a short tutorial on CT recently (just search for axial lighting). Another tip is to place the coin above the background (ie. a black piece of velt absorbs most of the light, thus giving a black background. Placing the coin on a pencil or so, say 5-10 cm above this background results in dark background)

 

As a professional numismatic photographer, might I offer a few additions and clarifications to the comments above.

First thing, a black piece of felt (?) absorbs most of the light, but black velvet is the best material. Perhaps that's what was intended and "velt" was an auto corrected issue.

More importantly, unless you want a dark and moody coin shot, don't photograph your coin on a black background. As Roerbakmix mentioned, that black background absorbs all the light, including the light you need to illuminate the edges and face of your coin.
Instead, photograph it on a white background and in post production, your editing software, cut it out and place it on a black background, or any background of your choice. Shoot it on white and place it on black, like the images below.








Next, axial lighting in a static form, like all of the YouTube videos show, is only the beginning. To shoot images like mine, you need to rotate the glass in 2 directions, in small increments for maximum effect. If the glass were a plane, it needs to rotate it in the pitch and yaw positions. You also need to rotate the coins while looking at them thought the view finder.

Which way is up? Everyone seems to think you need to place the coin upright, as you'd look at it in the final image, and shoot it that way. Not the case at all... I rotate the coin, and the glass until the light falls on it the way I want to see it. Sometimes that's upside down. In post production, my editing software, I cut it out you also rotate it to the final view position.

I agree with placing the coin above the background. More than anything, it defocus' the background, which is important when selecting / isolating the coin image. I use the clear plastic cap from one of my wife's pump hairspray bottles. I have several sizes, depending on the size of the coin. The clear plastic lets light pass through it and doesn't cast a shadow. My coins sit about an inch above the rotator top.

I understand many people aren't handy with photo editing software. It does have a big learning curve, but the unfortunate fact is, it is essential to quality coin images. Every image, no matter how perfect in camera, still needs some editing.

oh.. I assume you are shooting raw files and not jpgs. If not, that's a topic for a different discussion.

 

Really interesting. So, the light through the diffuser, then using the clear glass acts in a way like a two way mirror because it's at an angle to bounce a small amount back at the coin, and the black backdrop killing the excess light. And since the focus is on the coin, the glass disappears where the camera is concerned ?

 

That is correct, though there is much more to it in practice. All the parts are adjustable, including the diffuser.

 

Those who care about anything I have to say on the subject have had many opportunities to read my opinions here before so there is no reason to repeat them here. They know how much I dislike white backgrounds and the flare they add to a photo. If you are having trouble with lighting the edges of the coin, you can add a reflector to throw a little light on them. I find the white one is too strong for many uses and looks less natural so I made the gray one (on a 3D printer at the local library) which less harshly separates the coin and the background. When necessary, I drop in the white insert but gray is usually enough.

Someday, I intend to get around to recording my current set up but it is still changing from time to time. I remain of the opinion that there is no 'best' lighting rig for all coins. FF02's Gadhaiya Paisa looked decent in his light box but I did not care for any of the others. I tried axial a few years ago but did not feel comfortable with the working space provided by my 100mm macro lens. Perhaps it would be different if I had bought the 180mm but still only find axial best for some coins and prefer some directionality for most. Part of the fun I have as an amateur photographer is making new mistakes in search of a better answer for each coin. I almost never get my best image on the first try but, when you are just doing it for yourself, that means nothing.

You have some fine shots of the modern coins. I remain unconvinced regarding the ancients. I have so few modern coins that I know next to nothing about their imaging. A decade ago I made this image of a $5 gold piece that drove me up a wall. Each image has something I liked and something I did not. That is usually the case with my photos. Thanks for dropping in the ancients board. I hope you will show more ancients in the future.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply and including your photos. I agree there is no correct way to photograph a coin. Numismatic photography, like all photographic arts, is highly subjective and the best set up or technique for anyone is the one that creates images they love.

Personally, I use several lighting and camera set ups depending on the characteristics of a coin, and whether it is raw, slabbed or packaged. Axial lighting is only one tool and while it is very versatile, it is not the solution for every coin.

You mentioned you photograph ancients. Can you post some of those images? I'd love to see them.

 

Uh, oh . . .

 

Best coin photography I have seen.

 

You do realize you are posting on the ancient section of Coin Talk??? All of the photos here should be ancient or at least medieval. These are Greek and what auctions now call 'Eastern Greek'.

 

I do realize that, but the topic is coin photography and the techniques discussed apply to ancient coins, even if the images provided were more modern. I enjoyed looking at your photographs. Thanks for posting them. With respect to the section, I have attached a few of my ancients for reference.

 

I realized, as I reviewed earlier posts in this thread, I had already added those ancient images. My apologies. Didn't mean to repeat myself. Here are some new examples of my personal axial lighting techniques on ancient coins. These are all shot on a white background, but raised 1" off the background. The shallow drop shadow is added in post production and can be turned on or off with the click of a button, or adjusted as needs be.

 

Interesting, @Denis Richard, and splendid photo's. Could you share a couple of pictures without any editing, i.e. 'raw' from the camera? I've been experimenting with a white background, but it's usually either uneven white, or greyish.

Also, a couple of questions:
- how do you handle rough coins that shine, e.g. silver coins with corrosion that have been polished?
- how do you photograph coins with high relief, or concave coins? I use a very small aperture (f=22 with very long exposure times)
- do you have suggestions for capturing the 'true' colour of a coin (i.e. standardize white balance?")

 

Sure can.. but I'm off to work at the studio, to photograph more coins, so my reply and images will have to wait.