Additional
Help Please.
I'm
still struggling with the lighting :' (My attempts at artificial light ended badly. See
Hadrian here with a bad orange/pink tint using 100 watt incandescent bulb:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-65287. (off the topic, this was my one purchase from my local
coin shop where he has
had the same 10
ancient coins for the last 15 years I've been going there to buy American coins).
As the topic implies, I'm remedial with photography at all levels. I never learned to use a camera properly beyond point and shoot. Thinks like adjusting the white balance, and after shot processing are lost on me at this point.
Since the pink/orange series above, I've been using strong indirect sun light. I don't have
good north facing windows, but a
good area with south facing windows, and here in the south, in the summer, this results in strong indirect, but not direct, light. The vast majority of my
Flavian and 12
Caesar coins in my
gallery were shot in this way, and I'm happy with some of the results, but not the lack of
consistency. I'm also limited by timing- daytime, certain times of day, and only if it's not cloudy. I've actually snuck out of
work (self employed anyway), knowing it was a
good time and clear, to shoot a few coins and go back.
Mr. Smith's advice:
Experiment.
, and that's what I've been doing,
still with my natural light, since starting this
thread.
Yesterday's results on
Vespasian 1. Indirect sunlight, but the silver is very dark.
2. I tried direct sunlight against advice. The result isn't perfect, but better than the first in my opinion.
3. Dealer photo. My aspiration, but after pondering this on my own before reading a
thread, I believe by Mr. Smith, on white versus black backgrounds, I personally prefer the black background on the silver coins. I know the dealer/photographer is a professional, and I know they are not waiting for a sunny day, but that would be my aspiration.
Any more help/advice, and again, not at an advanced, but basic level. And yes, I am getting a daylight balance LED to experiment with
per Mr. Smith's discussion, but I
still want to figure it out without that as well.