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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;sjlund, post: 1404105, member: 36879&quot;]I thought I would put together a little tour of my coin photography setup to help everyone out there take better pictures of their finds.&nbsp; It&#039;s easy to take great looking pictures with just a little equipment and some knowledge.</p><p><br /></p><p>First, a picture of the whole setup from above - I have my camera mounted to a tripod, facing straight down.&nbsp; Off to the side, facing straight at the edge of the coin, I have a 100 watt desk lamp.&nbsp; For a coin stand, I had to raid my daughter&#039;s tinker-toy box for some parts!&nbsp; I have a dowel type part, poked through a black piece of paper to keep the background a solid black.&nbsp; Below the paper is a large circular piece of wood as a stand, and at the top I have an end piece to serve as a holder.&nbsp; It&#039;s diameter is slightly smaller than a dime.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]169379.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Next, a shot of the stand.&nbsp; You can see the wooden tinker-toy setup with the paper and the lamp.&nbsp; Having the lamp off to the side will give the surface of the coin shadows and highlights creating an image with a pleasing texture.&nbsp; Warning, this will show off every imperfection in the coin while it&#039;s bringing out the other more pleasant details.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]169380.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Third up, a shot of the lamp on, showing how the lamp illuminates the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]169381.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here are a couple of quick examples of pictures taken a few minutes ago with this setup.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=CONFIG]0[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH]169387.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]169388.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>It is easiest to use a camera that has manual controls for the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO to control the exposure yourself.&nbsp; The goal with this setup is to have the correct exposure for the coin, using the lamp, while keeping the background black.&nbsp; I accomplish this without having to edit in photo software by brightly illuminating the coin, while giving minimal illumination to the background (the black piece of paper behind the coin).</p><p><br /></p><p>If anyone has any questions about how best to photograph a coin, go ahead and post![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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