One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
reflections.

The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
the proof set facing up. The light then bounces off of a white foam
board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
board. I have the coins under the foam board section. I can move the
foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
that the reflections are outside of the area viewed. When I do that of
course, it distorts all of the coin shapes. I can somewhat correct this
in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins. I was
hoping to find a simpler answer.

I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also. Thanks
in advance.

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 8:22:41 PM UTC-7, Ace Crysler wrote:
> One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
> I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
> taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
> ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
> I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
> those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
> reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
> reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
> photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
> reflections.
>
> The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
> the proof set facing up. The light then bounces off of a white foam
> board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
> board. I have the coins under the foam board section. I can move the
> foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
> negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
> that the reflections are outside of the area viewed. When I do that of
> course, it distorts all of the coin shapes. I can somewhat correct this
> in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins. I was
> hoping to find a simpler answer.
>
> I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
> photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also. Thanks
> in advance.

Have you tried the photo light tent?
It diffuses light, no reflection from objects!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9Blnjj3mk

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 9:22:41 PM UTC-6, Ace Crysler wrote:
> So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
> reflections.

A _linear_ polarizer may remove the reflections, if you suitably position
your light source. And, as already has been suggested, a more diffuse
light source could help greatly.

For the linear polarizer, the light source should be at an angle to the
flat surface of the coin - and this might help even without a polarizer,
since then the reflections would not be aimed at your camera.

John Savard

On Tue, 22 Mar 2022 23:22:37 -0400, Ace Crysler <ace9000@hal.net>
wrote:

>One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
>I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
>taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
>ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
>I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
>those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
>reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
>reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
>photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
>tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
>reflections.
>
>The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
>the proof set facing up. The light then bounces off of a white foam
>board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
>board. I have the coins under the foam board section. I can move the
>foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
>negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
>that the reflections are outside of the area viewed. When I do that of
>course, it distorts all of the coin shapes. I can somewhat correct this
>in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins. I was
>hoping to find a simpler answer.
>
>I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
>photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also. Thanks
>in advance.

I've had good luck photographing small shiny objects outside on a
cloudy day. Doing it inside with no artificial light sources at all,
and windows draped, can also work well assuming you can take long
(several second) exposures.

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 9:03:13 PM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Mar 2022 23:22:37 -0400, Ace Crysler <ace...@hal.net>
> wrote:
> >One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
> >I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
> >taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
> >ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
> >I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
> >those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
> >reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
> >reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
> >photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
> >tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
> >reflections.
> >
> >The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
> >the proof set facing up. The light then bounces off of a white foam
> >board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
> >board. I have the coins under the foam board section. I can move the
> >foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
> >negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
> >that the reflections are outside of the area viewed. When I do that of
> >course, it distorts all of the coin shapes. I can somewhat correct this
> >in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins. I was
> >hoping to find a simpler answer.
> >
> >I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
> >photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also. Thanks
> >in advance.
> I've had good luck photographing small shiny objects outside on a
> cloudy day. Doing it inside with no artificial light sources at all,
> and windows draped, can also work well assuming you can take long
> (several second) exposures.

Correct!
Too much light cause unwanted reflections and light scatterings.
That's why Light tents are popular and work!

On 23/03/2022 03:22, Ace Crysler wrote:
> One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection. I
> have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
> taking good photos of them.  It isn't photos of open coins, like old
> ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
> I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets!  Trying to photograph
> those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
> reflections.  As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
> reflects.  Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
> photographed outside their case.  So, I'm wondering how to proceed?  I
> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
> reflections.

The simplest way to do it with limited kit is a big A0 sheet of black
card or better black velvet fabric angled inwards on the side facing the
camera, a north facing large window on one side and a similar but white
card on the opposite side to the window to soften the shadows.

Ideally you need a tripod for this to make life easier. The key trick is
to take the pictures slightly off axis - enough that the only thing
being reflected in the plastic cases is the plain black background.

Then in post processing you use something like Photoshop or PSPros
facility to make perspective corrections turning
__ __
/__\ into |__|

Polarisers will if anything add weird colourful effects from the stress
patterns in the otherwise clear plastic.

> The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
> the proof set facing up.  The light then bounces off of a white foam
> board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
> board.  I have the coins under the foam board section.  I can move the
> foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
> negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
> that the reflections are outside of the area viewed.  When I do that of
> course, it distorts all of the coin shapes.  I can somewhat correct this
> in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins.  I was
> hoping to find a simpler answer.
>
> I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
> photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also.  Thanks
> in advance.

You might be able to get away with square on axis shooting iff you make
a small hole in a large sheet of black card and shoot through it. It
would be much harder to set this up. It is a trade off.

I tend to favour the off axis method because it is more easily portable.
You just need someone with a dark coat in extremis. If you set up with a
tripod it is pretty much the same off axis adjustment for every shot
made with the same setup.Do it by hand and every one is different.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 23/03/2022 03:54, Quadibloc wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 9:22:41 PM UTC-6, Ace Crysler wrote:
>> So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
>> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
>> reflections.
>
> A _linear_ polarizer may remove the reflections, if you suitably position
> your light source. And, as already has been suggested, a more diffuse
> light source could help greatly.

The plastic will show all sorts of interesting rainbow colours from
internal stresses if you do that. You can quite often see such colours
in semi-polarised light in plastic water jugs and the like.
>
> For the linear polarizer, the light source should be at an angle to the
> flat surface of the coin - and this might help even without a polarizer,
> since then the reflections would not be aimed at your camera.
>
> John Savard

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 3/22/22 23:43, StarDust wrote:
> On Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 8:22:41 PM UTC-7, Ace Crysler wrote:
>> One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
>> I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
>> taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
>> ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
>> I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
>> those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
>> reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
>> reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
>> photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
>> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
>> reflections.
>>
>> The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
>> the proof set facing up. The light then bounces off of a white foam
>> board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
>> board. I have the coins under the foam board section. I can move the
>> foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
>> negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
>> that the reflections are outside of the area viewed. When I do that of
>> course, it distorts all of the coin shapes. I can somewhat correct this
>> in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins. I was
>> hoping to find a simpler answer.
>>
>> I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
>> photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also. Thanks
>> in advance.
>
> Have you tried the photo light tent?
> It diffuses light, no reflection from objects!
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy9Blnjj3mk
>

Got it. Well, that's basically the same thing I'm doing except I
surround the coins with a diffuse milk carton, then each light source,
one on each side, is also diffused. Notice how he's shooting at an
angle. If I do that, again, it works, but make the coins have distorted
shapes. If overhead, even with the box shown, and trying to shoot a
proof set, he would end up seeing a reflection of his camera smack dab
in the center of the proof!

On 3/23/22 00:03, Chris L Peterson wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Mar 2022 23:22:37 -0400, Ace Crysler <ace9000@hal.net>
> wrote:
>
>> One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
>> I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
>> taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
>> ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
>> I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
>> those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
>> reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
>> reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
>> photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
>> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
>> reflections.
>>
>> The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source near
>> the proof set facing up. The light then bounces off of a white foam
>> board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off of the
>> board. I have the coins under the foam board section. I can move the
>> foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only way I can
>> negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the camera enough
>> that the reflections are outside of the area viewed. When I do that of
>> course, it distorts all of the coin shapes. I can somewhat correct this
>> in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a lot of coins. I was
>> hoping to find a simpler answer.
>>
>> I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
>> photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also. Thanks
>> in advance.
>
> I've had good luck photographing small shiny objects outside on a
> cloudy day. Doing it inside with no artificial light sources at all,
> and windows draped, can also work well assuming you can take long
> (several second) exposures.

However, when shooting the sealed sets from overhead, I'd still see the
reflection on the camera right in the middle of the set.

I guess I'm stuck continuing to shoot at angles and then "Photoshopping"
the oblong coins back to as normal as I can get them.

On 3/23/22 05:13, Martin Brown wrote:
> On 23/03/2022 03:22, Ace Crysler wrote:
>> One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
>> I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having
>> difficulty taking good photos of them.  It isn't photos of open coins,
>> like old ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and
>> photographed, I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets!  Trying
>> to photograph those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting
>> camera and other reflections.  As you know, the coins are sealed in
>> plastic and it reflects.  Those coins can't be removed unlike the old
>> ones and photographed outside their case.  So, I'm wondering how to
>> proceed?  I tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't
>> remove the plastic reflections.
>
> The simplest way to do it with limited kit is a big A0 sheet of black
> card or better black velvet fabric angled inwards on the side facing the
> camera, a north facing large window on one side and a similar but white
> card on the opposite side to the window to soften the shadows.
>
> Ideally you need a tripod for this to make life easier. The key trick is
> to take the pictures slightly off axis - enough that the only thing
> being reflected in the plastic cases is the plain black background.
>
> Then in post processing you use something like Photoshop or PSPros
> facility to make perspective corrections turning
>  __         __
> /__\  into     |__|
Yes, this is what I'm doing now in Photoshop. I can angle my camera
enough to eliminate my camera and other reflections, yet get uniform
light across the coin using my original method. I guess this is what
I'm going to have to keep doing. Takes more time, but if that's all I
can do, then better that than nothing.
I tried an alternative set up yesterday. A man had a video where he had
his camera parallel and above the coin surface and both the coin and
camera were level. Of course, the coin was without packaging. He did
have a black card taped to the camera lens on one side, and a sheet of
plain white paper on the opposite side. He then positioned a flash
aimed at the center of the white sheet on the opposite side of the
coins. This produced great lighting if I photographed any coins that
were bare, but produced horrible reflections of the camera with the
proof sets. I think this is what you are trying to describe except
trying to vary the camera angle.
>
> Polarisers will if anything add weird colourful effects from the stress
> patterns in the otherwise clear plastic.
>
>> The only thing I've been able to do so far is place a light source
>> near the proof set facing up.  The light then bounces off of a white
>> foam board and I angle the light source to illuminate and reflect off
>> of the board.  I have the coins under the foam board section.  I can
>> move the foam board for various lighting angles, but even so the only
>> way I can negate reflections off of the proof sets is to angle the
>> camera enough that the reflections are outside of the area viewed.
>> When I do that of course, it distorts all of the coin shapes.  I can
>> somewhat correct this in Photoshop, but it's a pain when you have a
>> lot of coins.  I was hoping to find a simpler answer.
>>
>> I thought maybe amateur astro might have some idea since many of you
>> photograph the stars and have terrestrial photo interest also.  Thanks
>> in advance.
>
> You might be able to get away with square on axis shooting iff you make
> a small hole in a large sheet of black card and shoot through it. It
> would be much harder to set this up. It is a trade off.
>
> I tend to favour the off axis method because it is more easily portable.
> You just need someone with a dark coat in extremis. If you set up with a
> tripod it is pretty much the same off axis adjustment for every shot
> made with the same setup.Do it by hand and every one is different.
>
>

I think someone here suggested a light tent. Well, this seemed to work.
I made it out of 8.5x11 paper sheets. The top is simply bent in a
semi-circle with the bottom a white sheet and the back closed off with a
white sheet. It looks a lot like an airplane hangar!

It's still a lot of work to get each image to come out to my
satisfaction. There was no way around NOT shooting from an angle in
order to stop reflections from the proof's plastic surface. Also, the
contrast is not very good and I have to add a high contrast curve in
Photoshop to get it back. I've tried moving the two side lights further
away, but the same lack of contrast remains, just fainter. And of
course using the perspective tool to get the image back to normal.

I hope all of this work results in sold coins! So far, not so good, but
I haven't had them available for long.

Thanks again for the advice here.

Ace

On Thu, 24 Mar 2022 08:15:46 -0400, Ace Crysler <ace9000@hal.net>
wrote:

>I think someone here suggested a light tent. Well, this seemed to work.
> I made it out of 8.5x11 paper sheets. The top is simply bent in a
>semi-circle with the bottom a white sheet and the back closed off with a
>white sheet. It looks a lot like an airplane hangar!
>
>It's still a lot of work to get each image to come out to my
>satisfaction. There was no way around NOT shooting from an angle in
>order to stop reflections from the proof's plastic surface. Also, the
>contrast is not very good and I have to add a high contrast curve in
>Photoshop to get it back. I've tried moving the two side lights further
>away, but the same lack of contrast remains, just fainter. And of
>course using the perspective tool to get the image back to normal.
>
>I hope all of this work results in sold coins! So far, not so good, but
>I haven't had them available for long.
>
>Thanks again for the advice here.
>
>Ace

I think that most serious buyers are looking for the coins, and don't
even need pictures. You could provide a text list. All the pictures do
is demonstrate that the coins are still in proof condition. So the
quality of the images is probably not all that big a deal.

Ace Crysler <ace9000@hal.net> wrote:
> One of my relatives passed recently and left behind a coin collection.
> I have been trying to sell some of the coins, but I am having difficulty
> taking good photos of them. It isn't photos of open coins, like old
> ones that can carefully be removed from their casing and photographed,
> I'm talking about multi coin sealed proof sets! Trying to photograph
> those is driving me bonkers because I keep getting camera and other
> reflections. As you know, the coins are sealed in plastic and it
> reflects. Those coins can't be removed unlike the old ones and
> photographed outside their case. So, I'm wondering how to proceed? I
> tried a circular polarizer which, as expected, didn't remove the plastic
> reflections.

If you use a cell phone, a circular polarizer that covers the lens
and the flash should cut the glare from the plastic, if the
quarter-wave side faces toward the coins. No guarantees, the coins
are also shiny and the circular polarizer may cut them off as well.

Circular polarizers made to thread on cameras have the quarter-wave
plate toward the camera. You would have to hold it flipped against
the phone.

Light tent + no flash + photoshop is probably a better idea.

--
pa at panix dot com