Trying to learn how to take photos of coins so bare with me. I got this at the Winter Wasatch coin show in Salt Lake City earlier this month. Looks better in hand than my primative photo skills show. Its noted as a C-13 with minor hairlines, in front of lady liberty. I'm happy, I'm, starting to like these early half cents. The white spots on the obverse was lint on my lense, trying to get better photos now. what do you guys use as a back ground, what works good?
Good lookin coin !!!! WOW !!! I prefer to take my pics with a white background ( especially for the bay ) because it shows any pic manipulation or lighting tricks easier. On copper, you'll see alot of folks use color backgrounds ( on the bay) , which hides the red lamp they use to make the coins appear nicer.
I can imagine copper can be a beast to get right with the photos, brown, red brown and red could be tricky. I think I'll try white on my next on. PS. what's everyone's opinion on grade?
Nice coin. I'm particularly fond of half cents. I've only got one Draped Bust so far (1806), but I keep looking.
Nice coin and image. I have a hard time getting dark copper to look right. They always look tan. I was playing with this yesterday. I was doing better with just light coming in the window.
Copper coins are notoriously difficult to image. The darker the coin, the worse the problem. And a light background compounds the problem. Here's my Draped Bust half cent: A darker coin than the OP's, AND a light background (NGC holder insert.) Not a bad image. Close to the coin in hand I think. But I keep trying to improve my technique. Look here for some good information: http://www.sigma-2.com/camerajim/cjgcoins.htm I'm trying to get a piece of glass to try the Axial Lighting technique.
Nice 1806. Most 06's I've looked at have had pourous planchets, but not this one. I might try a white back ground like many of you have suggested.
Nice half cent! I just bought one myself, but haven't received it yet. As for background color, I agree with Jack, at least with coppers. White is better. But you'll run into glare problems with white and silver, so I use black felt. Overall, your pics were pretty good, I thought. Guy~
That is a beauty and yes copper is a royal pain especially on a scanner. Full red I can never get. Coins like yours (and plenty of mine) I scan with the scanner lid up some times. Really depends and takes experimentation. Here's the obverse of my 1833 half cent with scanner lid down. http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x275/clembo1872/scan0015.jpg A good representation of the coin.
My first early copper was an 1804 1/2c ! Nice grab, tater. I recently joined Early American Coppers, but haven't heard back from 'em yet. This is a very specialized field. Lots of things to know.
