Hi
Lucas,
Your post sound like I could have wrote it!
I think I was asking the same questions about a month ago, and since then I have been reading all I could online, joining photo forums,asking many basic questions,
Endless web sites and blogs discussing aperture, ISO, shutter speed, focusing etc, all the digital camera features to improve macro shots.
All to learn how to take photo's of my coins. After about a month of this and a
bottle of aspirin, I can tell you, I am more confused now that when I began!
One thing I did learn is no amount of reading will substitute for actually taking photos and learning form them.
Take shots and remember the setting and read the EXIF data.
In my opinion, to begin with, first thing to do is:
Get a steady shot, tripod,copy board, and use the 2 second timer or a remote switch.
get the lighting right,set up the coin and try not to get glare or shinny spots on the coin.
I use 2, 40w Reveal bulbs in small
goose neck
lamps,at 1:00 and 7:00,
I am adjusting distance/position and working with light diffusers,sheets of paper, plastic and tinfoil reflectors adjusting everything and
still not satisfied.
Manual or automatic focus, I'm
still not sure myself, guess it depends on your lens, but other macro photographers suggest manual.
When it
comes to exposure, I did many experiments, I have the camera set to macro, lens @ 10-15 cm from the coin.
While everything depends on lighting and the coin itself, I think I have an exposure starting point:
ISO 80, F8, 0"3(1/3) seconds. That's where I begin and adjust everything accordingly, that where I have problems, refining the exposure.
For silver coins, I didn't like the auto white balance and tungsten worked well.
I think you need a lower ISO for clarity and a higher F stop # for depth of
field, that makes the opening smaller, and I think the timing kind of balances things out.
That sums up my beginners process, I attached what I think is my best so far, I'm
still trying to get the shinny spots out.
Good luck,
Brian
