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Author Topic: Photography  (Read 3768 times)

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Offline HELEN S

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Photography
« on: July 14, 2013, 03:06:14 pm »
 There has been a lot of talk lately on the board about photographing coins and it would be interesting to see  a selection of photos of one coin and underneath a description of how those photos were taken full sunlight outside, angle the coin was set at and then we could appraise them. It may of course be down to a matter of taste but I am sure it would be very worthwhile project and I do hope that Paddy will get involved as he seems to have a handle on this at the moment.  +++

Offline Paddy

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Re: Photography
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2013, 03:43:13 pm »
There has been a lot of talk lately on the board about photographing coins and it would be interesting to see  a selection of photos of one coin and underneath a description of how those photos were taken full sunlight outside, angle the coin was set at and then we could appraise them. It may of course be down to a matter of taste but I am sure it would be very worthwhile project and I do hope that Paddy will get involved as he seems to have a handle on this at the moment.  +++


I would not go so far as to say that I have a handle on it. I have been practising a lot, though. For me personally, it is a matter of making the most of the equipment I already have and not have to buy new camera, new lighting or whatever else.

Some observations that I've made that could be helpful to fellow novice coin photographers:

1) Understand that ancient coins are much more difficult to take photos of than modern coins
2) Most coins look much different when magnified, in many cases the phrase "look better in hand" is very appropriate. Even when buying coins at very reputable  auctions, I have noticed that the coins look better in hand than in the pictures. Unless one plans to buy absolutely flawless coins - coins that most likely will be too expensive - you soon come to the realisation that the coins might not look how you wish they would.
3) Like everything else, practice is crucial. Try as many angles and different kinds of lights possible. You might have to take hundreds and hundreds of pictures before you get a good result.
4) It's better to have half decent pictures and posting them to an album than not. Can't expect to get as good as pictures as somebody who has taken tens of thousands of pictures. It's important to get a starting point and then go from there. Having a few pics in the album fully attributed and with the best quality you are capable at the moment is a good feeling. Can always change photos later on.

After trying lots of different things, I have found that with my mobile phone camera outside daylight works best. Lighting is very important and it's crucial to get the coin to fill as much of the frame as possible in the shot. You need plenty of light. When I first started to take pictures, I didn't have enough light and so the focus on the cam would max out not allowing me to get a really good close up. Subsequently when I cropped the picture, the coin would be blurred. Get lots of light and get the coin to fill as much of the frame as possible. This is probably the one most important factor, and getting that light and close up focus of the coin really made my pictures much, much better.

Some of the advice above has already been mentioned in other threads, but it's what I've experienced myself while taking hundred of pictures.

Now, the text above is from a novice to another. I am sure there are some people that will look at my pictures and rightly conclude that they are not that good. However, it's a good starting point I think and at this point I am happy with most of the pictures that I have taken myself. I do use seller's pictures if they are good enough, but I know enough now not to have to rely on sellers' pictures to get the coin into an album.



Offline HELEN S

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Re: Photography
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2013, 04:41:19 pm »
 Thanks for that summing up it is great to get advice from someone that struggled initially as I have. I am interested in the fact that you are using a mobile phone does that give you as good a quality of photo as a camera in your opinion.?

Offline Paddy

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Re: Photography
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2013, 05:13:23 pm »
Thanks for that summing up it is great to get advice from someone that struggled initially as I have. I am interested in the fact that you are using a mobile phone does that give you as good a quality of photo as a camera in your opinion.?

I've really only used my phone cam. I would assume that any new camera would be better than most mobile phone cams.

















Offline dougsmit

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Re: Photography
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2013, 07:36:53 pm »
Just in case someone never saw these, I'll repost my series from 2008:


Three experiments in coin lighting

All three use my 1960's vintage Durst enlarger frame reworked into a copy stand. Obviously these will be hard to find but you can support the camera many ways using home made or commercial equipment.

Left: Fluorescent ringlight - coin supported on dowel over black background in refrigerator drawer which reflects some light onto edges of coin. Smaller dowel in foreground is used for tiny coins.

Center: Compact fluorescents can be slid (near, far, left, right)and tilted as needed for best results. Two in a small movie bar are shown but one can be used. Aluminum foil shown in drawer can be used if additional edge light is desired. Diffusers or reflectors may be added to lights as desired but two bare tubes usually provide a broad light source as desired.

Right: Camera is set up near a bright but not directly sunny window for natural light. Can around the dowel coin support shadows the black background making it blacker. Wired remote release helps cut down on camera shake. Copy stand is mounted on lazy-susan allowing rotation in the light to change angle as desired. This is important since this light is rather strongly directional and a big difference can be seen as you rotate.


Results from these rigs:
Images with three images of the same coins stacked vertically are Ringlight (top), Compact Fluorescent (middle) and Window/Daylight (bottom).


You may notice that some coins vary a great deal more from one technique to another while some hardly do at all.  I tend to shoot new coins using the compact fluorescent system first and move to the ringlight when that fails.  I have not set up the daylight rig since the time I took these shots simply because coins that look better in that light are fewer than the additional trouble warrants.  I installed the other two systems in a closet where they are easy to use and out of the way and find that 95% of my new coins yield to a couple variations of angles and rotations of the first two methods.  The 5% that fight me get reshot now and again  in the hope I'll get lucky and get it right eventually.   Learning to spot which coins will fit which technique is a work in progress. 

Offline HELEN S

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Re: Photography
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2013, 03:17:16 am »
 

 Oh thank you Doug for this amazing post I will go and study the results, and thank you for the work you must have put in to obtain them Thanks so wonderful WOW

Offline Andrew McCabe

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Re: Photography
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2013, 04:56:44 am »
A truly magnificent post. Clear as crystal, fabulously illustrated. The refrigerator drawer is a great idea.

In general I prefer the daylight photos, though in cases they make crappy coins look bad.

The stark reality is that 99% of reader (including me) may not have the time, patience, competence, resources, space or need to set up such systems; I for one don't have the space in a tiny London apartment to establish a permanent setup anywhere and always do a "new build" arrangement each time I take photos (and then have to disassemble before dinner since I'm using the single table); I also don't have any of the other competences that Doug has, still I muddle through with my pics. I wish Doug could take all my photos.

Offline HELEN S

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Re: Photography
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2013, 07:11:42 am »
     QUOTE    I wish Doug could take all my photos

  What a great idea we could send him our collections and let him practise with them LOL
  After studying them closely I also prefer the 3rd photo "window/daylight" in the top two examples much clearer and showing more depth.  I think that what these example shows is photos taken correctly can make a huge difference to appeal.

Offline dougsmit

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Re: Photography
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2013, 07:18:31 am »
It might be a bit risky for Andrew to entrust me with his coins.  I know a few hundred of them I would not want to send back.  :evil: 

This post was an excerpt from
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/ph2008.html

The refrigerator drawer also comes in handy if a coin falls off the dowel.  It is much easier to find in the drawer than on the floor.

Offline HELEN S

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Re: Photography
« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2013, 07:30:05 am »
 Thank you for the link which has been added to my favourites. That looks like a superb amount of information which I am looking forward to reading. I am thrilled to get this info prior to commencing the task of taken my coin photos.
 I do understand that should Andrew send his collection to you there may be a considerable amount of his coins that would go AWOL only to be discovered by yourself at a later date. Mark my words Andrew would know exactly which ones had gone haha
Anyway I am going to chose the simplest method to start with the natural light one  and see how I get on CHEERS

Offline Augustin Caron

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Re: Photography
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2013, 06:01:16 pm »
Anything i am doing with ancient coins photography owes something to Mr Doug Smith.
Always think three-dimensional, even with a flat strike coin.
I work with soften artificial light (one source) and black real background. Always (imho) try to get the picture you have in mind, unless you are a selling company (then your pics should be more surgical).

Best to all,
AC

Offline dougsmit

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Re: Photography
« Reply #11 on: August 29, 2013, 07:25:53 am »
Quote from: Augustin Caron on August 06, 2013, 06:01:16 pm

Always think three-dimensional, even with a flat strike coin.


Great advice! The greatest challenge of coin photography is having to turn a 3D object that you can wiggle in your fingers into one flat and static image without losing the feeling given by tiny textures as well as the high reliefs. 

 

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