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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jtlee321, post: 2874834, member: 73983&quot;]When they are raw, they are so much easier to work with.&nbsp; My technique will change depending on how the surface of the coin is.&nbsp; For proofs that are not toned, I will use a standard setup for me, which consists of 3 or 4 lights.&nbsp; If the surface of the Lincoln Cent is toned, then I will use a combination of axial lighting and direct illumination.</p><p><br /></p><p>This 1953 Proof was not toned, so I used 4 lights.&nbsp; My main light was positioned at around 2:00, the second light was at around 10:00, the third light was at about 7:30 and finally my 4th light was positioned at about 4:00.&nbsp; All lights were set at a <b>much lower angle</b> than I would use for silver coins.&nbsp; This allows for a better contrast on the bust of Lincoln without getting intense hot spots.&nbsp; Also the two bottom lights were positioned further away so that they cast less intense light on the coin and were only acting as fill for the darker areas.&nbsp; I let the fields stay a little dark.&nbsp; I expect them to be darker on a mirrored field, but you can still see the color of the coin and the viewers brain knows how to interpret the image properly.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]687950[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]687951[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In this 1955 Proof Lincoln Cent, it had some really nice toning going on.&nbsp; So I chose to use the hybrid of axial and direct lighting to illuminate it.&nbsp; The axial portion of the equation lights up the fields because the mirrored surfaces reflect the light directly back at the lens, this causes the toning to really pop.&nbsp; The direct lighting helps to bring the bust out and get some contrast.&nbsp; The lights used for the direct lighting have to be placed much further away than they would be during normal shooting.&nbsp; If not, they would seriously overpower the axial portion.&nbsp; If you do some research on axial lighting, you&#039;ll find out why you lose so much light using that technique.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]687952[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]687953[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>And finally here is a modified version of the lighting from the axial hybrid above.&nbsp; I angled the light in the axial portion a bit differently to produce different effects.&nbsp; It&#039;s all in just being creative.&nbsp; This is a Lincoln Cent from a 1964 AH Proof Set.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]687954[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]687955[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In the end, there really is no right or wrong way of doing this.&nbsp; There&#039;s simply a better and worse way of doing it and creativity will help you find the better way.&nbsp; Also some basic lighting theory used for portrait photographers helps a guide.&nbsp; Because really, your shooting a portrait on almost ever coin.&nbsp; Everything above is vastly easier to work with when the coin is naked.&nbsp; Once you throw a slab into the equation the work really begins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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