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Author Topic: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve  (Read 2859 times)

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Offline the10thlegion

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Years ago I used to use a flatbed scanner to get pics of coins. A few months back got a Canon EOS w/ a macro lens and started taking pics with the lens about 3-4 inches from the coins. Wasn't working out well so I got a ring light. I'm not going to say it improved the pictures any but in my mind I was accepting that it was. The main problem was the pics were very pixelated thus detail was lost. Yesterday I increased the distance between the lens and coin to about 13 inches, removed the ring light, and used a halogen lamp at the 12 o'clock position about 3 ft above the coin. Quite the improvement. I took it a step further today and tried natural sunlight. I'm assuming these will post in the order I added them. The first is the original pic from the seller, The second is what I got moving the lens further away and the last is direct sunlight. The last is actually closest to the color of the coin. Any suggestions on how to improve?

I didn't save the pixelated image of this coin so will respond with another series of pics of another Antoninus Pius Sestertius showing seller's pic, my pic of 3 inches, and the 13 inch distance with natural sunlight.

Hope you enjoy and looking forward to information on improving!

(Correction - pics got switched the middle one is the natural sunlight @ 13 inches distance the bottom pic was last night w the same distance and the halogen light)

Offline the10thlegion

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2016, 03:28:27 pm »
Before I post the other I did a "one step photo fix" in Corel PaintShopPro. I think it made it a little sharper but it's actually a little lighter than the actual coin.

Offline dougsmit

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2016, 12:25:08 am »
I have taken many photos of coins and am rarely so satisfied that I don't want to change something and try again.  I do not believe there is a single best way to do anything in this field but that some things work better for some coins and other techniques work better for others.  There is also a lot of room for opinions.  I hate to hear people talk about how a coin looks 'in hand' because that depends on where the hand is and what light is falling on it.  It is often hard to decide whether a great photo of a coin is a credit to the photographer or simply the sign of a nice, cooperative coin. 

Over the last decade, I have posted a series of web pages on coin photography showing where I was in the process at that time.  Every time I shoot, I change something that improves and diminishes results in some way leading me to want to try something else.  Some people may benefit from my wanderings through the subject but these pages are a record of a journey more than an instruction book.  The most recent is from 2011 which means it is time to start over and see if I can make a better set.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/coinphoto2011ez.html
and several pages linked from that one
samples:




My main criticism of most coin photos is they are too contrasty with areas glaring or in deep shadows.  In general I prefer images with softer, bounced light. 

Offline ickster

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2016, 11:14:54 pm »
10thLegion: For some reason, and it may be just my eyes, but your pictures seem a touch out of focus. By that, they seem a touch blurry. Not a lot, but enough to detract from the picture. Again, it may be an unwarranted observation.

Doug: That top photo (and coin)...wow!  :o

For the set of three that you've displayed, the middle attempt seems the nicest. Again, just my NSHO.

Offline the10thlegion

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2016, 07:21:28 am »
Ickster, thanks for the feedback. You're not hurting my feelings any. I compare what I do to the seller's pic and rarely do I match their quality. I'm constantly trying to improve; not working right now so got a little more time to play. The biggest problem I feel I face is when in lightroom it's either try to match the actual color of the coin and sacrifice sharpness or try for a sharper image at the cost of having funny colors that aren't anywhere close to the coin. Maybe it's not the development part but the equipment, or maybe the person behind the whole thing. Challengingly what seems to work on one coins pic does nothing for the next coin. Last night I was testing NOT adjusting the white balance. Seems that gives me a blue hue that's hard to get rid of. Criticism is welcome, suggestions even more so!!!

Offline areich

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2016, 02:38:16 pm »
I don't like fussing with pictures, I am happy with one that's good, instead of trying for very good. BUT, I wouldn't want to shoot without my camera, that I have hooked up to the computer and can operate via software. I can focus manually, which is much better than the autofocus.
Andreas Reich

Offline dougsmit

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2016, 09:47:45 pm »
I don't like fussing with pictures, I am happy with one that's good, instead of trying for very good. BUT, I wouldn't want to shoot without my camera, that I have hooked up to the computer and can operate via software. I can focus manually, which is much better than the autofocus.

Interesting!  I am never satisfied and fuss a lot with lights before I shoot, have not used a tethered camera since 2002 when I shot the Failmezger book photos while flat on my back following surgery and use autofocus unless I'm doing a focus stack or have shot a coin that fooled the autofocus the first time (very rare).  It is not like there is always one answer that works for everyone. 

Regarding autofocus:  Better cameras and many lesser ones have a setting allowing you to change the weighting of which part of the image is focused upon.   Since round coins tend to leave the corners blank, you are often better off setting the focus to center weighted than averaging the whole screen.  You can use just the center but that can be a problem when a portrait is very high relief.  Much of this depends on your camera model and what works for you. 

Offline ickster

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2016, 11:42:48 pm »
Challengingly what seems to work on one coins pic does nothing for the next coin.

This is a discovery many of us have made  :laugh:

With regard to getting a sharp image, are you using a tripod or other camera mounting device? This, coupled with the camera timer, allows a "hands off" picture. With a macro setting, any movement tends to create a bit of blur.

Offline the10thlegion

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2016, 06:59:20 am »
Yea, I use a tripod and camera connected via USB to pc where I use the EOS utility to take pics. I haven't figured out how to manually focus and sometimes (not all) the focus just keeps readjusting non-stop. I've noticed if I stick my hand in between the coin and lens it sometimes corrects it. More common is after I click a pic it jumps out of focus and as the pc/camera is processing the pic it comes back after the fact in sharper focus. So I take another then.

I think where the biggest improvement will be is learning better lightroom. Right now I'm more or less experimenting every time I open a new RAW file. I have a tendency to over adjust where I think subtle changes would be more effective. I felt I was making improvements on some coins but I'm still struggling w/ rough patinas.

Here is an improvement to a gold coin.

Offline dougsmit

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Re: evolution of my photography and open to suggestions to improve
« Reply #9 on: March 19, 2016, 09:21:35 am »
I gave up on Lightroom when I tried version 1.0 and know nothing about their revisions except they cost too much for my needs.  I continue to love Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP - now version 4.0) which is free from Canon who should know more about their cameras than third party folks.  Right now 4.0 only supports current cameras but older versions of DPP (came free with the cameras) work fine for old models.

RAW files allow you to make any adjustment you wish including some that are 100% wrong. I find I do better if I try to get the default display of the image as close to correct as possible so I am just tweaking little things rather than bringing the image back from the dead.  The RAW file may be the same but this helps my ability to judge what I need to do to improve it.  One helpful step is shooting with manual white balance.  Brown is a hard combination of colors for my eye to adjust so getting it close before I start seems to help a lot.  I suspect that other RAW programs have similar capabilities but I learned the language of DPP and it makes sense to me.  I don't know if shooting manual white balance would help with Lightroom or not.  

I struggle with some bronzes, find silver easier and have little experience with gold. I have not tried reshooting a gold since DPP 4.0 came out but should just for the educational value of it.  Your latest is certainly a step in the right direction.  Would a touch more saturation help?  As with any 'correction' there is a fine line between improvement and wrecking the thing.  Lighting gold really makes differences in the final image prehaps more than other metals.




 

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