How to get the most luster out of your photos?

Hi guys,

So I am overly happy with how much detail I can get in my pics of my coins. It is much then sufficient. I can get the actual color for toned coins basically spot on too.

But I have one problem.

The luster is always not accurate. On my Au coins which are full of luster in person they come off as having none at all. if the coin is a MS coin it looks like it has the luster of a XF coin :/.

Any tips on the type of lights or lighting I should try would be most appreciated. I currently hit the coins with a somewhat triangular effect using a adjustable desk lap from one corner then a little led light from the other two corners. I also have all my lights on in the living room which are fairly bright as well.

 

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First off, multiple different types of light sources is no good for any camera. You will have a hard time getting the pics to turn out in original color. You don't even want day light creeping in. I take my pics in the basement under a tensor light with all other lights turned off, so it's dark. Then I manually set the white balance under that light using a sheet of paper. After that, accurate colors are obtained.

As for luster, I don't know any tips for that. It should automatically come out if it isn't drowned out by too many light sources. I know using one, two or three lights positioned at proper angles will produce different types/number of bands of luster on the coin. Too much light and the luster is drowned out.

After you've taken the above mentioned steps, try manually adjusting your ISO setting and F-stop, which will lighten or darken the picture to the desired affect. Under good lighting, you usually need to tone it way down in the camera. Flash should be off, obviously.

That's my answer/opinion for the wee morning hours. I've went to the bathroom and now I'm going back to bed.

 

My problem used to be i didnt use enough light. perhaps now i use too much