Photography help please?

[jonthecoinjunky]

With little effort I can easilly take pictures of bright white and even proof coins. I have been struggling capturing the color on many of my nicer toned coins.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

[EZ_E]

The key to capturing toning usually is getting the light source at a near 90 degree angle to the coin. This is very difficult unless you have a macro lens that will allow adequate space between the lens and the coin thereby allowing the light to strike the coin.

 

My Canon powershot has a supermacro function but it has to be mere inches from the coin which makes it impossible to capture the color of some coins because it blocks the angle of the light source that I need.

 

I highly recommend Mark Goodman's book Numismatic Photography found on ebay. He goes through techniques and equipment that you need.

 

Good luck.

[lehigh96]

My advice is to purchase a copy of Mark Goodman's book "NUMISMATIC PHOTOGRAPHY". Here is my testimonial.

 

[James_OldeTowne]

Remember that the camera will capture what your eye sees only if you duplicate the "setup" you've used for your eye. So, position lighting a certain way, literally put your eye where the camera will be, then rotate/turn/angle the coin such that you see the color to best advantage. When you do, that is the exact same set of circumstances the camera will need to capture the color.

 

Hope this helps. It is at least how I get started.

[DC Dawg]

Remember that the camera will capture what your eye sees only if you duplicate the "setup" you've used for your eye.

Gee... if it did that, all my pictures would be blurry!!

 

Scott

[jonthecoinjunky]

Thanks for the advice. I may even look at a new camera. What type of lite source do you use?

[EZ_E]

I have OTT lights but it really doesn't matter as long as you don't use different light sources for the same pic. You should white balance first. The book we mentioned explains it all.