Guide / Tutorial Walkthrough of a photograph - the 2017 Quintuple Sovereign

[Charliemouse]

Here is a quick walkthrough of how I photographed a raw 'proof like' coin.  I didn't want to handle it, so I kept it inside the capsule.

Setting up the physical scene was fairly straightforward.

I put the coin, in its capsule, on a slightly modified plastic stand.  The modification is that I removed the small lugs that 'wrap' around the bottom of the coin and obscure the lower part.  I also removed the top of the capsule, so that you don't get reflections, dust and loss of contrast.  I was using a rotating stand as a floor, which is useful as it allows me to easily turn the coin so that I get just the right reflection.

Then I take a series of identical photographs (in this case 12), where the only thing that varies is the focus point.  Here are the first and last:

Then I use focus stacking software to merge all the basic images together.  It's automagical.

The last 'phase' is some Photoshop work.  Adjust the colour and exposure to match the lighting, pull down the blacks and shadows to isolate the coin.  Then some clone tool work to remove the stand and capsule.

Job done.

[modofantasma]

😻

[Silverlocks]

All I can bestow as a gold member are plebby blue likes.  I think I may need to get a platinum membership soon.

[Charliemouse]

This is the rejected version, fully enclosed in its capsule.  I'll explain why I didn't accept it.

Firstly, the fields are completely black.  This maximises the cameo, sure, but doesn't give any texture or 'goldness' to the coin.  If I had turned the coin to reflect more light, it would have first shown as glare on the capsule surface.

Secondly, the capsule is still covering the coin.  This produces multiple reflections, most visible next to the horse's nose and tail, and under George's arm.  This can fairly easily be removed with a cloning tool in Photoshop, but consider those reflections are obvious because they are on black fields.  Every part of the effigy is producing reflections.  So, that will reduce the contrast and detail overall, across the whole coin.  Then there is additional dust introduced from both the inside and outside of the capsule.

Even if you are not confident completely removing coins from capsules, do consider at least opening the capsule when photographing a coin.  You do not need to directly handle it.

[Silverlocks]

I do like the way you've pulled out the finish on the device.