Coin Photography: Macro Lens

No worries... from your manual page 90 (https://nnps.org/pdf_files/Camera Manuals/Canon 1000D Manual.pdf) you can select the pre-set white balance settings by pressing the "WB" button on the back of the camera, which brings up about 8 pre-set options. Usually you can select "tungsten" for incandescent lights, "daylight" for daylight color lights, of "fluorescent" to correspond with your bulbs, and that will get you pretty close. Or you can set an actual color temperature (e.g. 3000 Kelvin) if you know that. Best option you can set a Custom White Balance by shooting an image of a white piece of paper under your lights, and then the camera can figure out what you mean by "white" from that.

I would definitely recommend at least setting on of the presets to correspond with whatever bulb you're using.

Edit: Dave, you must type really fast!

 

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Indeed.

 

Don't take this the wrong way, but, no, I don't think you have the light right, and I'm not referring to the color.

Always try to light the portrait such that the portrayed should have to shade their eyes with a visor to see. This will give definition to the eyes and the rest of the face. This is one reason why the 10 and 2 positions are a good start. In the case of your coin, the face is in the dark so there is no definition of the cheekbone or beard. If you have a light at 2:00, it is too low.

 

Believe it or not, the image is also a bit over-exposed. You can see in the image below the areas that are over-exposed, and in which channels. You might try -1/3 or -2/3 EV and that will tone down the highlights a bit: