Sometimes, I'm surprised at how well an image turns out, without even trying

[James_OldeTowne]

I did a quick shot of this coin last night, and for some reason, I just think the image turned out very appealing. The coin isn't necessarily all that great, but just photogenic, I guess. Interestingly, this was shot with my usual single overhead bulb, but it almost looks like four bulbs were used!

 

 

[MBA101]

Nice detail! And the cartwheel is captured rather well.

[123cents]

Great pictures James. What camera are you using?

[MikeInFL]

I think you need to keep trying, or get a new camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously, nice photo. The lighting effect you mention works well when you place two lights "high" (close to camera) and at a 90 degree angle to one another. It really evens out the lighting and makes the two (four) bands of luster stand out. I am at a loss to explain how you got this effect with only one light (perhaps a window somewhere?!?!) because from the photo it appears there are two -- one at 11:30 and a second at 2:30.

 

Take care & thanks for sharing...Mike

[bsshog40]

Nice shot James. Noticed you did it standing on edge. I'm trying to make some sort of sideways shelf or holder that I can take pics that way. You're able to get more light to distribute much better with the coin on edge, but need to find a way that it will sit up-right and not cut the bottom of the coin off. I don't have a wall where I take my pics so a holder of some kind is needed. I was thinking of trying to find a way to mount a pair of hemostats to an arm of some sort. This way, the only thing that would be lost is the small section that the hemo's would be gripped to. What ya think? Might work?

[Dwaine]

Nice photo, but looks like it has lots of marks and hairlines,

[robec1347]

Very nice photo, James. It is especially nice considering the absense of a second light.

[physics-fan3.14]

Are those cleaning harlines, or regular ones? And is that rim damage? I would pass on the obverse, but the reverse is nice.

[jgrinz]

Looks like a ruffian to me AU/MS .. BUT .. 87-s ? .. I like it .. has Character

[rexcat]

Mike, I think the single light source produced a nice contrast that shows the coins details well, but I think it also makes the scratches appear more intense. And old Liberty did take a couple dings on the face that your eye see right away.

 

But this Morgan looks to be well struck in both the hair and the eagles breast and has sweet minty luster, very nice James.

[James_OldeTowne]

The coin is not that great (if I may do a quick spam, it's on eBay now). I grade it AU-55/58, and it does have some hairlines, but not from cleaning. They are just incidental hairlines. However, the fact that they show up well-defined is, I think, another positive factor about this image. From the standpoint of a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional object, this image is about dead-on accurate as it gets!

 

And it is definitely just a single overhead bulb! I do all my imaging in the basement in the evenings, when it is pitch-black, and there is no ambient light. My desk is positioned beneath a single 120 Watt bulb, about 5 feet above and perhaps three feet behind the imaging area.

 

When I take images of larger objects (album pages, etc), then I flip on a few more lights, but I've always liked how single coins look under a single more-or-less point-source of light.

 

I did some experimentation last night, and think I've duplicated what happened here, and I'll share that in another post shortly.