lighting for photo's

[Carolus Magnus]

What is the best lighting setup for digital photo's? Mine turn out with a reddish pinkish hue using regular incandesent lighting. I am looking for a natural look to the coins, as they really are not enhanced.

                                                                             Chuck T

[slokind]

Make sure your digital camera has White Balance settings!  Look in your Manual.  Once you make the setting as instructed (off white paper or a gray card) in the time and place where you are, no matter what kind or mixture of kinds of light you have, you will get true whites, true neutrals, true metallic colors.
If you are struggling with a K-Mart special, without White Balance settings, take your coin outside in good light, lying on a piece of (e.g.) black velvet or on your own palm or on a pane of glass (preferably ground glass) about 2" above a white surface, and photograph it in good sunlight.  You probably have seen the good color obtained in others' photos with the coin on their own hands.  Of course, it doesn't look very 'professional', but for 'professional' you need the White Balance settings.
Patricia Lawrence

[Numerianus]

The problem is not only with the White Balance. In fact, it is a logical enhancing not much different from that of Photoshop and which imitates the choice of an appropriate material in the traditional process (film, paper). To my taste, the daylight is the best option, especially, if you are not in harry and want to enjoy taking photos and  to get the best one.

Another problem is the background. A smooth silver surface (or luster bronze) acts like a number of tiny mirrors reflecting the blue or gray sky, walls, the shirt of the photograther and so on. Worse of all, they reflect the body of the camera and its interior. This may lead to agly black spots.
I am trying to circumvent this by using the zoom and taking shot in
oblique directions against a suitable background (e.g., a blue sky).
Unfortunately,  it is not so easy to keep the coin in the focus.
I use the Photoshop enhancing without hesitation (it is like a choice of a contrast paper). You can see some results of my experients on this board;
Of course, my advices are not professional.
A good camera seems to be a necessary condition for success and ...
good coins. I still could not find a solution for medium quality large bronze:
the coins are quite nice in hand but not on photos. Impossible to get satisfactory ones? I do not think so...
 

[UKPete]

One of the main problems I have come across is that normal house lighting produces a yellow or reddish looking coin pic.

I have purchased a 100 watt "Daylight bulb" (DONT get the lower 40 or 60 watt bulbs)which are found at any good lighting or hobby shop. They give a blueish light which makes the pictures more realistic when produced. They are also better used when cleaning coins as well.

I also use photoshop to make the pictures more "realistic" in colour, not to enhance the pictures but to get the colours more like the natural effect.

I also photograph through a magnifying glass on a stand with my camera on a small desk tripod. This makes the pictures much larger and gives more detail when downloaded onto the PC.