Always a great selection of U.S. collector coins

May 2007

COIN AND PAPER MONEY PHOTOGRAPHY, PART 2

The April issue of our newsletter contains an introduction to numismatic photography including selecting a suitable digital camera. In this installment, we focus on an appropriate setup for taking coin and paper money pictures, with emphasis on lighting conditions.

While some photographers place items on a specialized platform, our experience has been that a table top or other flat surface works just fine. Place the coin or note on a solid white, gray or black surface, such as a sheet of paper. With a black background your pictures may be overexposed. Conversely, they may be underexposed when a white background is used. Proper exposure is more easily achieved with a camera that supports manual shutter settings or has a spot metering capability.

If your camera has a custom white balance capability, we recommend a white background - set the white balance with the lighting and background you'll be using but without any objects on the background surface. Otherwise, an 18% gray card (available at many camera and film processing shops) produces the most realistic colors for many coins.

Mount the camera on a tripod with the lens facing down at the background. Be sure the distance from the lens (when the camera is on) to the subject is at least the minimum distance supported for the camera, or your pictures will be out of focus.

Lighting is critical for getting realistic photos. We will briefly consider a few of the most popular alternatives. Generally, a primary light source is supplemented by one or more fill sources to minimize shadows.

The simplest alternative is to shoot in daylight using the camera's white balance setting for daylight conditions. Drawbacks to this method include that lighting conditions will vary with the time of day and weather conditions and that luster may be understated (the latter may not be an issue for paper money or circulated coins).

coin picture with reflected light

A fairly simple alternative that allows easily reproducible conditions and does a good job of capturing uncirculated coin luster is to use a couple lamps, like those commonly seen at coin show tables, with incandescent bulbs. We advise against fluorescent lights for photography. Point one light from nearly overhead directly at the subject and the other at a low angle from approximately twice the distance. Incandescent lighting is strongly yellow compared to daylight, although less so with Reveal brand light bulbs, and this is where a custom white balance capability comes in handy. If your camera doesn't support custom white balance, try its incandescent white balance setting(s). For realistic pictures, additional color correction may be necessary with photo editing software. With this lighting setup there will often be a strong glare from some areas of the coin (because some parts of the raised surfaces will reflect light directly from the source to the lens).

Reflectors and/or translucent screens are used by professional photographers to avoid glare and evenly light subjects. Products that diffuse lighting onto coins and other small objects are commercially available. Some consist of a translucent dome with a camera mount affixed to the top. The camera is attached to the mount and points through an opening in the center of the dome at the subject. All of these products we've seen have been priced at $200-400 or more. Some enterprising individuals have made their own domes using a translucent white plastic bowl and a tripod mount. When purchasing or constructing a dome, be sure that the height is appropriate for the minimum focus distance supported by your camera. Alternatively, you can set up an environment to reflect light with common household materials, such as a box or other surfaces lined with reflective materials, e.g. white paper or aluminum foil that has been crumpled and then flattened so that light is scattered at various angles. Aim at least one of your light sources at the reflective surfaces. This technique was used for the half dollar pictured on this page.

As you can see, there are a number of lighting options. Which one is right for you depends on the equipment you already have, your budget and your quality expectations. Try experimenting with some of the low cost lighting options described above and see what works best.

CURRENT SPECIAL

Through May 24, we're adding one each 2007-P and 2007-D Washington quarters in uncirculated condition free to orders of $45 or more placed with our secure online shopping cart. More info about this offer is available on our Current Special page.

REMINDER: NEW WEB SITE LOCATION

As previously announced, our web site recently moved. Our complete inventory of collector coins and paper money plus books and supplies for collectors can be viewed online at our new web site location, www.telecoins.com.

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