I picked up a group lot from CNG a short while ago and decided these coins would be the perfect opportunity to play with the Pixlr Editor. The good: I figured out how to do the black background The bad: Almost everything else. In honour of the good and the bad the order of the photos will be based on my ability to edit the photo as closely as possible to the coin. Some turned out really well and the others I feel would have turned out better if I had better lighting. Much of the troubles I had I believe can be attributed to the poor lighting I had set up when taking the picture. All of the coins in the lot are from the J.S. Wagner collection and have some of the older tags which I really like. #1 This is kind of cheating because TIF helped me with this picture in terms of lighting and the colour. Aelia Flaccilla, Alexandria AEL FLACCILLA AVG draped bust right SALVS REIPVBLICAE Flacilla standing, facing, arms folded on breast ALEB in ex #2 This one turned out suprisingly well. I am happy with both the colour and the lighting. This is the only coin in the lot that didn't come with a tag. I am curious if maybe CNG just missed it? Probus IMP C PROBVS PF AVG radiate, cuirassed bust right ADVENTVS PROBI AVG emperor riding left, right hand raised, left holding sceptre; at foot a captive. I in exergue #3 The base lighting for this coin turned out better than the others but the green is a bit more vibrant in the photo than on the coin. Justin II and Sophia. Kyzicus DN IVSTINVS PP AVG Justin on left, Sophia on right, seated facing on double-throne, both nimbate, Justin holding cross on globe, Sophia holding sceptre topped with cross, cross between their heads Large M, ANNO to left, cross above, B below, regnal year X to right, mintmark KYZ #4 Constantine I, Rome IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, laureate draped bust right, seen from behind SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, legionary eagle between two vexilla. Mintmark RP. And now for the failure pictures that just didn't turn out and will be definitely reshot #5 I got the black colour fairly correct but the lighting and contrast are no good and I just couldn't figure it out. Valentinian II, Antioch D N VALENTINIANVS PF AVG, rosette diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right CONCORDIA AVGGG, Constantinopolis (Roma?) enthroned facing, helmeted & cuirassed, head left, holding globe & long spear, Theta left, Phi above K right, ANTB in ex. I put Roma with a question mark because the tag with the coin indicates it is Constantinopolis but other sources I have seen Roma so I am not sure. #6 Couldn't get the colour right on this coin. It is a bit more 'chocolatey' than the picture shows Gratian, Thessalonica DN GRATIANVS PF AVG Diademed, draped and cuirassed bust left VIRTVS ROMANORVM Roma seated facing, head left, holding globe and reversed spear TES in ex #7 This one was just a fail on all accounts. I couldn't get the colour right, or the brightness. It was just terrible. Constantine I, Nicomedia IMP CONSTANTINVS AVG, laureate, draped bust left, holding mappa in left hand, globe and sceptre in right IOVI CONSERVATORI AVGG Jupiter standing left holding sceptre and Victory crowning Jupiter, palm to left. B in right field SMN in exergue So far I have learned a lot about Pixlr and hopefully by setting up the pictures better themselves they will eventually begin to turn out better. Regardless I am very happy with these 7 coins. Unfortunately, as with all the lots I buy some will be going to new homes. It is very hard to decide!
without knowing exactly what the coins look like, I think your pictures are pretty darn good WB, details look good, nicely focused. I struggled getting the "green" right on my recently posted tet coin, same trouble as your Justin and Sophia. just could quite pull it off. but as DS said, we all have different moniters, and ...so how to pix look to everyone else will vary. nice mix of coins, I dig them!
Looks like your light years (no pun intended) ahead of me. I haven't tried Pixlr yet, so maybe I should. On the another note, I haven't figured out how to do the black background only by using the programs. I've been told many times, but I just can't understand (maybe I'm just plain photography stupid). So not I'm shooting all my coins with a solid black background. I envy your ability (and everyone else's as well), but hey, I have a 220 average in bowling.
#2 strikes me as perfect. #1 is close but I'd prefer a bit more light from the right rather than the left. #3 If green is too vibrant try reducing the color saturation. I do not know Pixlr but some programs also allow you to adjust saturation for each color separately. If not, try just lowering the total saturation. If so, try lowering green and/or yellow to see if you get closer to truth as you see it on the coin. #4, 5 and especially 7 all seem to be redder at the top and bluer at the bottom. Mixed color like this makes me wonder if there is light on the coin other than from the lamps used or reflected from some surface. I once knew a photographer who had such troubles only when he wore his favorite purple shirt. I have no idea what makes the tint in your case. You might be able to help with a little less color saturation but don't go so far that you have monochrome photos. Some photos might be helped by raising the light so it did not graze harshly across the surface. You seem to take all photos with the light coming from about 10 o'clock. I might suggest reshooting the ones you don't like with the light moved to 1 o'clock. #5 in particular might benefit from a softer light bounced around more so you could give more exposure without increasing the glare on the back of the head. I believe a little more exposure would let you apply corrections without running out of detail in the 'toe' of the curve. If you just started working with the process and the program, I'd call the results something like miraculous. Practice makes perfect, they say, so make little changes and reshoot the bunch to see what each change did for the better or worse. Every time I make a change for some perceived fault, I seem to introduce some other problem which makes me wonder if I was better off before. Not every coin responds best to the same situations. Practice has not made me perfect but mostly more aware of what I'm doing wrong that I used to do better.
Doug has said it all and with more eloquence than I could have. Bottom line-- nice work! I'm sure you'll be able to tame those reshoots. It may take dozens of attempts but eventually you'll find the right combination of conditions and settings for each.
Great new herd Whiz, pictures are very good too!! kind of cool seeing everyone striving to take better and better pic's. glad to see you got some new coin...
Thanks everyone. Doug the red most likely comes from the automatic white balance on my phone. The desk lamp I usually use for pictures is out of commission until I pick up a new bulb so I was using my other lamp. Whenever I use this lamp my phone tends to make the coins appear more reddish. You are correct with the position of the lamp as well. It is clamped on my desk shelf at 10 o'clock. In addition I will also be upgrading my phone soon and will get the added new camera benefits that accompanies that.
In return for childcare services for my grandson, my daughter provides my phone as part of her family plan. She just upgraded me to a Samsung Galaxy S6 which has a better than many camera. I tried some photos of coins and soon decided that I just do not like phones for coin pictures. The tonality is artificially hyped up with too much artificial sharpness and excessive saturation. I'll use it when I need a photo and do not have a camera with me but I really prefer my cameras. First is shot with artificial light like I use for my regular coin photos. Second is a shot with the built in flash in the camera. Last is my 'regular' camera photo which has been combined to show both sides. I just did not see the quality in the phone shots that made me want to go further with processing.
Without a doubt a proper camera will out preform the camera embedded on a phone. Once these dreaded student loans have been taken care of (two years and one month to go!) you may find yourself bombarded with questions as I attempt to set up my own photography station. I must upgrade my phone out of necessity as the screen on my current phone, the Galaxy S3, looks more like a spiderweb than a screen. I accidentally smacked my phone off of the standing bike while at the gym and it landed poorly. It really makes judging the photos before uploading them onto my computer difficult!
