FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => Coin Photography, Conservation and Storage => Topic started by: slokind on March 04, 2009, 02:38:49 am
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Shiny silver is so hard to photograph, and none is shinier than many Hellenistic tetradrachms. So I just keep trying, over and over. This time I raised my glass to within 6" of the lens so as to completely fill the frame with this coin which is almost 30mm, thus getting a reading wholly off the coin, in fact more accurate than I've gotten before. f.10 and 1/20sec.
So, permit me to share? It's Demetrios I, and I like the Tyche seated on a tritoness throne.
Pat L.
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Nice pic. Shiny silver is my bane as well, it seems to either be under or over exposed! I am about to re-photo most of my silver to see if I can do a better job. I think I am finally figuring out my camera!
Chris
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Superb!
PeteB
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And yet, trying with the exactly same set up and all, and making a 6th or 7th attempt, I only managed to convince myself (at least for the time being) that something is wrong with the reverse of my Seleucus II. Judging from the insult it delivers to the camera's sensor from the high points and from the insults to anatomy in the arms (especially the hands) and the legs, so that one gets a sort of flat gunmetal color in the photo, I wonder whether this coin was not selectively polished, not just cleaned (probably chemically, and notice the difference between these areas and the rest of the coin).
In any case, some day I want another Seleucus II! I don't mind a weak strike in the portrait so much; it just holds down the price, but it makes me uneasy (for more than a year now) when anything looks wrong on a big coin in a noble metal.
Pat L.
And now I add (Mar 6), for discussion below, my original photo, taken with a Nikon S-1 (tiny, thin pocket camera).
• 11 05 06 AR4dr 16.73g 30,1nn 12h Seleukos II Kallinikos Antioch mint. Diademed head of Seleukos to r. Rev., Apollo, arrow in r. hand, leaning l. elbow on tripod; laurel staff behind him (or laurel wreath decorating tripod). BASILEÔS at r. and SELEYKOY at left. DH monogram at l. and SR at right. WSM 991, Houghton 689.1
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Hi,
i am not agree with you.I think it is a good coin (judging from the photo,i dont know if it is worst at hand but i don't believe it).
The head is with all that it need,the style,his view,clear.And the reverse it's much better,Apollo, tripod , style, all, very nice.
Very nice coin
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With polished or highly cleaned silver, the high points are impossible - you might as well shine your light directly into the sensor. The same happens with smooth bronze that has been waxed, which is one reason I don't like using wax.
The very three-dimensional nature of these coins adds another difficulty, that of lighting all sides of the bust well enough to avoid deep shadows, without adding yet another set of highlights. Your (Pat's) system of Ott lights manages that well! These are impressive photos.
I like the coins too, even the Apollo reverse. The contortions you can find on coins that are trying to show someone leaning "casually" on a column, rock or tripod are surprising and amusing. And, of course, you have an excellent eye for coins that have something attractive about them.
Bill
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Indeed, mine holds its own among those on CA, from which I have downloaded three nice ones: Antioch, or related, with Apollo leaning nonchalantly, as on mine; Teos, with elegant detail and more fully rounded modeling of the thigh; Sardes, perfectly elegant and carefully modeled (also didn't sell when listed).
**You are right: the Antioch ones are those with the strongly leaning, nonchalant seeming posture: the only ones. They also have a complementary tilt of the head. I had never looked at them mint by mint before. Antioch, perhaps, minted the largest quantity, because, undeniably, the modeling is not so complete or subtle, the thigh having a hint of cookie-cutout (so has the figure of the deceased on the famous Stele of Hegeso from the Athenian Kerameikos). But Antioch "gets it". Was the statue theirs, I wonder?
**The balance is something that only good artists "got": leaning contrapposto, with something less substantial seeming than a tree. Teos and Sardes make the figure less relaxed. As for inferior mints... But it helps (photographers take note) if you respect the line that the engraver gave us, the line that the figure and the tripod stand on. On any even halfway decent coin the figures profit from your making the groundline exactly parallel to the bottom edge of your image.
But you both are very kind! When the accession snapshot, added above, with the Nikon S-1 (!!!), with mere pre-set white balance and only a single Ott-lite, is competitive with all the successive efforts, it drives me crazy. The S-1 is the 1cm thick pocket camera I got for fun and only used when I had to send the Nikon 5700 back for a factory recall!
I post (remember copyright: fair use must be respected) a pane of 3 specimens from CA.