Photography Practice

I'm trying to get better at photography. I really like the black backgrounds I see on TIF's and Doug's posts and this is my first attempt.

The lighting set up is a $3 Walmart LED light. I placed the coin on an upside down glass bowl to remove shadow. Average 10 year old digital camera.

Thoughts? I don't know if I have the patience for coin photography! I think it came out pretty good though.

 

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Here's another.

 

Much better than me. You did nicely for your first try.

I learned from the Stevex6 school of lazy photography, I just use seller pics.

 

Nicely done.

 

I don't know Nicholas... that background... not too sure.

I think it needs a little more class... a more soothing color... Something to make it a professional look. JUST like one of the Litras that I purchased (Sellers pics)...
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RR AE Litra 230-226 BCE Mars Horse galloping Sear 596 Cr 27-2 OBV.JPG

Doesn't that have EYE APPEAL? Really wake up the coin? Accent the patina???

Maybe your next edition should use this background...



EDIT: LOL, PERFECT that @green18 ("GREEN") was the FIRST to "Like" this! LOL

 

I used to like black backgrounds much better, but have now gravitated to white for their neutrality. I was perusing coinvac today and spotted an Antoninus Pius Aureus I sold back in 1999 on Ebay:



Black does make gold look better!

 

Nice pics! Great detail and color.

 

Good job on the first. The second looks like it was shot on a white background and cut out leaving a thin white edge. I have done black, white and several other backgrounds but never had the slightest urge to go lime.




To my eye, white glares.

 

Once you go lime, you've committed a crime.

 

I laughed when I saw these as the Sellers photos... then realized that I did NOT have this version of the RR Litra... I reckon, who is the sucker now??? I REALLY have a hard time looking at it!

 

They were both shot on a white background. Should I use black or gray? I figured the Magic wand tool on photoshop works best with a white background.

 

I've used both and now only use a black background. It makes fully blackening the background easier.

Sometimes I hold a sheet of white paper near the coin to reflect a bit of light on the bottom edge of the coin because sometimes the lighting is insufficient-- when processing the images, it is difficult to see the true edge of the coin without the extra light.

 

I just use my iPad, a three/four-inch stand (usually three old US coin Red Books), a black background, and the lighting from my bathroom lights.

I find it works surprisingly well:

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

TIF makes the best backgrounds!

 

But seriously, I had trouble with the coin above, it's black...and was very hard to do on a black background.

here's another experiment...

 

When your coin is black, you really end up photographing the glare reflected from its surface rather than the surface itself. You can claim to be more purist than the rest of us and show us a black blob claiming your coin is really that black. No, you just have not put enough light on it to see the relief detail. This coin is black. Would a better picture just be a black rectangle of a black circle on a white rectangle? You are welcome to that opinion. I prefer to see the coin. The lighter parts are where the glossy surfaces threw light toward the camera while the darker parts are where the light was thrown elsewhere.

 

Easiest is not to use photoshop or other tools and just not allow light to fall on the black background in the first place. You can do this any way you choose.

Black Backgrounds (from my photo web page)

If you want a plain black background it is better to dispense with the glass and shoot over a 'black hole' created by a tube to shadow the black background under the dowel or spindle. While I have used a variety of tin cans and other shadow devices, the best is a piece of black craft foam rolled in a circle and held together with a pair of rubber bands. The diameter can be varied as needed to be sure no light reaches the background. My coin sample shows the edges of the foam coil but that will be cropped out when the two halves of the image are combined in one file. I prefer black backgrounds because of the way they look but also because they are easier to do than white or other colors. If you wish to separate the lower edge of the coin just a bit you can add some white tape to the black foam at that side and throw a little light on the edge. Too much of the will look fake. The image below used white. Compare it to the one above wit no reflector tape. Improved? Too much??? We will not all agree.

 

Now I see. Thanks for this. I think I do like the one with the white tape.

 

It'll be tough getting the right dowel since some of my coins are really small.