Coin photography...the cheap way

Just wanted to get some opinions and perhaps some constructive criticism of my super el-cheapo photography setup. All homemade, mind you.

Here's my setup (Note: the camera sits on top of my cardboard structure):





And here are some examples I just took today...

These first two were taken WITH the paper covering the ott-lite as is shown in the photos above:





These two were taken with the paper off:





And these two were taken without the ott-lite...using a standard yellow light lamp (in the background of the first two photos I showed):




So...let me know which pair you like best--any and all comments are welcome.

 

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Hi DJ; The last two photos (yellow light) are real nice....seems to bring out more of the tonning.

 

HAHAHA, I love it. Great setup, it gives me lots of ideas...

Take Care
Ben

 

I like the last two also. Very nice results for an inexpensive setup.

 

I really like the last two set of pics, very nice. Also, very nice looking Morgans you got there man! :thumb:

Phoenix

 

Nice job and very creative DJ.

I give you a


RickieB

 

So DJ, are you going to show us a picture of the camera you use?

Phoenix

 

I would agree that the last two are the nicest looking pics, but my question would be which of the pics most accurately presents the coin as if it were in hand?

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the comments. LOL pheonix, you asked for it...




lol, not really.

Here's a photo of the exact camera I use:

 

They are all pretty true to the coin, but I'd have to say the last two are the most...they bring out the colors a bit better IMO, although they are a bit more yellow in the photo than the coin is in person.

 

very nice pictures, I'm always fiddling with my setup trying to obtain the optimum pictures without making myself insane.

 

Good idea. Very creative.

 

wonderful, great pictures, I'm stuck with my scanner

 

My philosophy: Whatever works.
Nice job.

 

Nice DJ I only have one problem.

Your desk is so organized - how do you find anything?

I'm stuck in scannersville now as well but one can get creative there as well. I sometimes use paper for a backround, some scans are done with lid up others with lid down. One can also "tilt" the coin. Learned that one here on CT.

Like Kanga said - whatever works.

 

You can find the quality of my scans here http://www.omnicoin.com/user_view.aspx?ID=Arneman

so I'm ok with that

 

lol, it isn't always that neat. I usually clear it off before I start photographing.

 

Daniel. I was told that if you use the GE "Reveal" bulbs they will give as close as you can get to actual colors. Another great easy method is to place the coin inside an open tupperware container with light sources from both sides. The container diffuses the light and spreads it out to an even distribution across the coins surface. It's sort of a homemade version of the photography "light domes" that are sold commercially and would work easily with your stand also.

 

Thanks for the tip Steve. Several months ago I made two cardboard structures--one white, and one black--for the exact purpose of getting rid of unwanted reflections and such.

 

Here is a little trick that may help some with their coin photography.

Instead of laying the coin on paper, felt, cloth, etc. try placing the coin on something that elevates it above the background. A film canister works great. (You may want to cover the top of the canister with felt so it does not damage the coin.)

This will make it easier for your auto-focus camera to focus on the coin. Depending on how your camera focuses on an object it may be confused by the background and focus somewhere between the background and the coin if they are very close to the same distance from the camera. By elevating the coin above the background you should get a photo with the coin in sharp focus and the background slightly out of focus which makes your coin stand out better from the background.