Experiments in coin photography

Any suggestions on how to improve this maybe a good background i could use.

also i got this in change this morning

 

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Very nice change find. I'm sure the photographer gurus will be along to give some tips. I'd try to get the camera in line with the coin.

 

I do not know which camera you have, but most cameras have a center weighted metering, spot metering, or some facsimile. If you have such metering, you need to set it to that. This will set your metering to the coin and keep it from getting overexposed

 

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another try no flash this time

 

You have good focus & resolution. You are shooting the coin straight-on. You have your flash turned off. This is all good.

If your camera is on a tripod, then take the photo using the timer function. This will take the photo while your finger is not shaking the camera. Now just move your light(s) around & see what different lighting angles does for your photo. You normally get good results if your lights are diffused. You can shine the light(s) through a piece of thin white paper to diffuse the light. Sometimes you can bounce the light off a ceiling or other reflective surface to diffuse the light.

Very best regards,
collect89

 

diffused light and a background made in photoshop

 

Try to get the image you want BEFORE Photoshop.

Try to tightly crop the photo when you take it.

Try to illuminate the photo to accentuate the devices when you take it.

Try to have the white balance on your camera adjusted properly when you take it.

I personally liked your photo before you used Photoshop to diffuse the lighting.

Good luck & post lots of photos please.

Very best regards,
collect89

 

Well i was going to take a break and search a role of cent's . I fond this and I know nothing about Canadian cents so I figured I would kill 2 birds with one stone.

the 2 Pix are exactly the same the only difference is orientation and background.

 

Getting better!

 

Don't know if your using indoor lighting. Last photos much better. Have you tried outdoors.

 

the last photo was sun light. I went and got some good light bulbs at the store today a few different sizes all the way up to 300 W to try and replicate indoors ill post some pics soon.

 

Photo 1 was taken with a 300 W light it was the brightest light i could find at the store without going halogen.

Photo 2 was taken in sunlight at the same angle you can see the toning a little better.

photo 3 was taken in sunlight at a hi angle to give a good view of the toning.

 

This is the same pic with the 300w light but with the white level adjusted back to normal levels in photo editing.

 

Keep up the experimenting.

I'll mention it again; Try to get the image you want BEFORE you Photoshop the image.

Have fun.

 

I did what you suggested and took some more pics it took me about 12 tries before I had one i was happy with ..


I decided to do some experiments with texture and back grounds.







I think I prefer just the straight white background but haven't given up on using some color to add to the overall effect of the photograph.

 

Which brings me to my new question is there a place for art in coin photography or should it be all about the coin ?

 

LOL! You're definitely getting into the photography aspects of the hobby! I love it.

As a serious reply, I think the different backgrounds you've used detract from the coin itself. So it depends on your goal. If just making an album of your coins to show off, then use whatever you want for the background. But if you want the photos for serious discussion of the coin, I'd avoid anything that detracts from the coin.