Perhaps one of the most difficult coin-types for me to properly capture on camera have always been coppers, specifically large and half cents, and also ancients. The key problem was capturing the true color of the coin, so crucial with old copper. Another problem, due to my poor photo skills, was avoiding darkness in areas of the coin. Well, I think I finally found a relatively simple solution to my problem. I have always used sunlight as the light source and a window-sill located parallel to the direction of the sun as a backdrop. By choosing instead a window-sill located perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the sun I find I can better capture the true color of the coins, and reduce dark patches. The drawback is picture-taking is only optimal between roughly 10:00 and 14:00, and overcast days are out. This solution is still far from perfect, and well below the photo quality many of you display, but for me they are a marked improvement. Here are some examples of my improved photos. Remember, the objective was to capture the coins as close as possible to the way they truly appear on-hand. Your comments are welcome! S-45: S-163: S-105: S-205: S-238:
Good photos, I always have trouble keeping the edges clear, they get blurred if I use any sort of magnification lens. Those are gorgeous coins, just wish I had some of my own to photograph, now!
Try experimenting with varying darker shades of background, it can help. Are your coins on the background surface or raised slightly above it?, as this gives different results also.
Thank you, all. As I mentioned, the objective was to capture the true color of the coion. I think my new 'technique' as primitive as it is, comes very close and I am happy. I also found that the background used plays a role: I tried red, black and blue and found the color of the window-sill (off-white marble) was best for me. Why does a window-sill perpendicular to the sunlight work better than a sill parallel the sunlight? I think it has to with with the intensity of the light. Parallel is more intense than perpendicular, and it washes out the colour.
Yes, you are absolutely right, this technique helps. I now use sticks of wood under the coin to tilt it toward the incoming light. This really helps reduce darkness in the lower areas of the coin which plagued me before.
Those are nice coins and thanks for sharing the technique - the photos look good to me. I too have difficulty with shooting old copper so I'll give your method a try.
The "true color" of the coin really depends upon the light source. My favorite is 100-watt bulb although I know those are not made any more. In that case, I’ll take average room light. As for the color / white balance in photographs, I work with the software photo processing program with the coin in my hand and try to match them. I have found that raw coins are the easiest to photograph. Slabbed Proofs or Proof-Likes give me the most trouble. Here is my one raw coin exception. This is a wonderful 1809 half cent that is still raw. I bought a few years ago in an EAC Convention Auction. Right now, it’s in the bank, so I’m not sure how it looks in person. I have “to offer my first born” to get into my safe deposit box these days. Here are some different views of it. These photos were taken with one of those fancy microscope cameras that are tied to a computer. Do youself a favor and don't buy one. Everytime Microsoft does an update, it won't won't work. This looks worderful, but not really what the coin looks like. This look is too grey. This might be closest to the "real look." Some day I might get to check it out again.
@johnmilton said "These photos were taken with one of those fancy microscope cameras that are tied to a computer. Do youself a favor and don't buy one. Everytime Microsoft does an update, it won't won't work." I have an old laptop which I don't have connected to the internet while I am using the usb scope. Problem avoided.
Yes, that's the way to do it, but if you don't have an old laptop with some life left it it, you are toast. I have a camera for which I paid over $400 that is not worth 15 cents. It's a total piece of junk.
Yes, I was lucky to have an old backup. I was even more grateful after the first time I loaded it in Win 10 and the first update required a reboot. A second time and then some research and I loaded it on the spare
Color is a funny thing. There are 4 things that make it a moving target. Color of the light source, white balance of your camera, color of the light you use to look at the coin, and color calibration of the display used to view the images. So as you can imagine, getting the color of a copper coin right isn't all that straightforward. I try to use a slightly lower light angle than usual for brown, circulated copper to avoid reflections, which mute the color.
Copper has always been the most difficult for me and particularly frustrating being an EAC collector. I have tried many things, cameras, lighting and backgrounds, and this simple 'technique' consisting of a suitably placed window-sill, a few sticks of wood and my old Canon PowerShot SX gives me the best results.
Early morning shots of a cent of which I have never before been able to take halfway reasonable pictures. Finally, a nice rendition of the true color, including the traces of cleaning, even though early morning lighting conditions are still less than optimal.
