bobh Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 As many of you may have noticed, I am building a web site for most, if not all, coins in my collection. I am trying to take the nicest possible pictures of my better coins. Here is the most recent addition to my Russian 50 kopek pieces: Russia, 50 Kopeks 1899-* (Paris mint) My problem is that I always use a blue or light-blue background for my silver coins, so that is the predominant color. This one looks a little "too blue", though, when I view it on my laptop. I have a desktop with a better graphics card, and I always adjust the colors a bit on this computer because of the many peculiarities of my camera, the lighting, etc. The laptop doesn't nearly do justice to the coins, but OTOH I have no internet connection with the desktop PC, so I have to use the laptop to post and view them on my web site. On the PC, the images of this coin look perfect to me; however, it is a somewhat low-end monitor connected to the PC, so I really have too many variables here to know exactly what is the "true image" for this coin. What do you think of the color here? I am open for any and all suggestions. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GDJMSP Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Yes I would say it has a bluish cast to it, the background doesn't help problem that much. I would suggest changing it. Another alternative would be to adjust the white balance on your camera. But no matter what you do, every individual computer is going to show the coin differently because of the individual settings that people use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I agree, it's a little on the blue side. Try a different background (maybe black). Maybe you are getting some kind of reflection from the background or it's exaggerating the color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 It doesn't seem too far off honestly, a slight blue cast, but nothing major. There are a ton of image editing software out there that you can easily do some color correcting with, Photoshop CS is what I am most familiar with, but even some photo-editing software (that comes with most digital cameras now-a-days) has some good color level, and contrast adjustment tools. If you don't have any of those programs, try using a darker shade of blue, that way it will reflect less in photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akdrv Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 It's a good sharp photo, but it does seem to have a blue tint. Black background usually works well for silver coins. I use Photoshop for image editing as well. It has a nice auto-color correction feature. I haven't used Picasa (free), but on the list of features it also has "Auto Color" correction. It maybe worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 The photo imaging software is a life saver. I use a black background for a lot of my silver coin pictures. I then turn the colors from "color" to "black and white". For some odd reason it works well with some coins and horrible for others. *shrugs* Just an idea to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Thanks for your feedback ... apparently, my laptop has more faithful colors, although it has only a 16MB graphics card. My PC has a 256MB card, and for most other things it seems to show the colors more vividly. Now I merely adjusted the RGB values in PaintShop Pro on the laptop and uploaded the pictures again. Seems to be much better now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuldFartte Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Looks fine to me, but if it bothers you, use a black background (flat black - NOT shiny or glossy!) or, as has been suggested, play with the camera's white balance. When that happens to me, I usually make a tiny color correction in Photoshop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffibunny Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I'm using a brand new LCD and it doesn't appear to have a blueish cast at all to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 I'm using a brand new LCD and it doesn't appear to have a blueish cast at all to me. Thanks for looking ... I already uploaded a better picture before you posted, but it is nice to know that that one looks OK on your screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted July 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 The photo imaging software is a life saver. I use a black background for a lot of my silver coin pictures. I then turn the colors from "color" to "black and white". For some odd reason it works well with some coins and horrible for others. *shrugs* Just an idea to play with. I think it is important to catch the colors of toned coins, and B/W photos will only show this as shades of gray. I suppose it's OK if you have a blast-white coin, but I think something is lost by this method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jello_g Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 I would suggest using a neutral background. If there is a colour cast, it will become evident in how your background turns out. Occasionally I use a Kodak gray card, which is 18% gray. I actually use the gray card to capture correct exposure, while the neutrality is a side benefit in my application to help identify colour cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted August 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 I would suggest using a neutral background. If there is a colour cast, it will become evident in how your background turns out. Occasionally I use a Kodak gray card, which is 18% gray. I actually use the gray card to capture correct exposure, while the neutrality is a side benefit in my application to help identify colour cast. You know, this is a great idea -- I will try to include part of the 18% gray card in the photo and crop it out after adjusting the color. I just can't get used to the idea of using a completely black or gray background, though -- seems as if it would be a little harsh on the overall effect. Also, I read somewhere that the camera will pick up the color of copper coins best on a pink background...can't remember where, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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