A few physical backgrounds to compare

[ray_parkhurst]

I like shooting on backgrounds that will stay with the image, ie I do not like cropping a coin out of an image and placing it on an artificial/digital background. Invariably some detail of the edge is lost, or there are remnants of the background showing, etc. For Cents I usually use either a black velvet or a textured plastic. Occasionally an interesting material pops up that I want to try. That happened today as I unpacked a box from REI. There were black plastic sheets used to protect the contents. The sheets have an interesting hexagonal divot pattern which I thought might look good. Anyway, below are pics of a 55-S BIE on several different backgrounds for your viewing pleasure:

Hex Divot
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0001_1.jpg

Photo Black Velvet
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0004_1.jpg

Plant Tray
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0007_1.jpg



True-Grey
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0009_1_1.jpg

Soft Foam
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0014_1.jpg

Cotton Pique
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0018_1.jpg

Rough Sticker
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0020_1.jpg

Microscope Stage
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0021_1.jpg

Contact Black
https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0022_1.jpg

[GrumpyEd]

I like the black velvet the best.

I'm wondering if the backgrounds change the file size much. It would seem like cropping onto a solid black or any truly solid color would result in a smaller file size especially if there's any compression. Do you see that in the file sizes with different backgrounds vs a solid color?

[ray_parkhurst]

The black velvet, which has a completely black background, is the smallest at 517k. The largest is the last one, microscope stage, at 899k. So there is indeed a lot of extra data required to store the more complex backgrounds.

I forgot to upload one of the backgrounds...here is Contact Black, also added above:

https://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad273/rparkhurst/IMG_0022_1.jpg

[eaxtellcoin]

I'm the pessimist on this one. Black backgrounds take light away from the edge of all parts of the coin. I.E the rim, back of the head, back of shoulder and in front of the face. The Rev with the flatter field is alot easier. I don't have any problems with white on the REV and usually only slight darker at the back of the head and shoulder. Black makes it all to dark for me.

[ray_parkhurst]

When I am shooting a coin to sell, I use a textured background. This is why I wanted to try the new backgrounds (hex divot and contact black), ie I wanted to see if they would be better than the plant tray I've generally used. I do like the new ones, but I am still liking the plant tray best.

[eaxtellcoin]

Brother, to each is own :)
The color is the best take away. I think on my screen the color is best with the second pic.
Eric

[makecents]

Very cool Ray!! I do not have a favorite other than to say I like the textured backgrounds the best. The contrast, in my opinion, make the coin stand out more. I have no pic knowledge at all but have a question for you. The textured, that obviously take more pixels, does this force a sharpened pic of the coin also?

[ray_parkhurst]

Brother, to each is own :)
The color is the best take away. I think on my screen the color is best with the second pic.
Eric

So you like the color with black background, but not the lighting.



Very cool Ray!! I do not have a favorite other than to say I like the textured backgrounds the best. The contrast, in my opinion, make the coin stand out more. I have no pic knowledge at all but have a question for you. The textured, that obviously take more pixels, does this force a sharpened pic of the coin also?

The coin itself doesn't change a whole lot due to the background. The images are a little different since I processed a couple of them differently to enhance the backgrounds for the comparison, but the background doesn't really affect the coin much.

[GrumpyEd]

The black velvet, which has a completely black background, is the smallest at 517k. The largest is the last one, microscope stage, at 899k. So there is indeed a lot of extra data required to store the more complex backgrounds.

Thanks!
That is a big difference especially if you store a lot of images it's using 73% more data. Might be even more difference if it's a truly solid color since even the velvet has a texture. I didn't expect it to be quite that different.

[ray_parkhurst]

Thanks!
That is a big difference especially if you store a lot of images it's using 73% more data. Might be even more difference if it's a truly solid color since even the velvet has a texture. I didn't expect it to be quite that different.

The image file with pure black circle crop around coin is 468k, so you're right that even the small amount of data in the black velvet background makes an unexpectedly big difference.

[GrumpyEd]

Interesting.
It might not seem like it matters but it adds up if you store a lot of photos. :)

[Petespockets55]

#2, "black velvet" is nice but I like the "soft foam"(#5) or "cotton pique"(#6) best. The shinier backgrounds seem distracting.

I use a dark gray/almost black mouse pad with stretch fabric which reduces distracting speckles but probably increases the file size from what you've indicated here.

[jfines69]

Those are all excellent photos... I like the black velvet best... The lighter colors appear to show a shadow around the coin??? There also appears to be a light reflection off the SW coins edge from about the 6 to 7 position on the gray backgrounds??? Wouldn't the lighter colors reflect more light back into the lens???

[DoubleYou]

I like the True Grey the best. It makes me feel like I can pick up the coin. They all are fantastic as always.

[ray_parkhurst]

I picked up some more "black" paper backgrounds to try. Different coin, shot with a Schneider 60mm WA lens. Let me know what you all think:

Crepe Texture
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_1.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rparkhurst/a/c4006e96-333c-4544-8651-f0ef305984c8/p/9e3d8406-89c4-4201-a40b-e7963869ffab)

Wood Texture 1
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_2.JPG?width=450&height=278&fit=bounds&crop=fill)https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_2.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rparkhurst/a/c4006e96-333c-4544-8651-f0ef305984c8/p/9e3d8406-89c4-4201-a40b-e7963869ffab)

Linen Texture
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_3.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rparkhurst/a/c4006e96-333c-4544-8651-f0ef305984c8/p/9e3d8406-89c4-4201-a40b-e7963869ffab)

Wood Texture 2
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_4.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rparkhurst/a/c4006e96-333c-4544-8651-f0ef305984c8/p/9e3d8406-89c4-4201-a40b-e7963869ffab)

Flat Black Texture
https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_5.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/rparkhurst/a/c4006e96-333c-4544-8651-f0ef305984c8/p/9e3d8406-89c4-4201-a40b-e7963869ffab)

[ray_parkhurst]

Links fixed

[Petespockets55]

If all things were the same for all 5 new images, #2,3, & 5 images remained the same (no detectable visual change in the color of the coin).

I think I prefer #1 because of the darker background and doesn't it distract from the coin iteself.

[mustbebob]

I also personally prefer image number 1.

[ray_parkhurst]

An interesting thing about these textures, especially #1, is that their color is very "gray". If you look at the RGB values across the whole background, they range from 11,11,11 up to 57,57,57, almost always staying perfectly balanced. This means that a dark background like this can be used as a white balance check to ensure no hue juicing has been applied.

[makecents]

I like the crepe texture the best. It looks like there is more contrast to me and the flat black looks like it does not show as much definition/clarity, in the coin.

[ray_parkhurst]

I was in an art store and saw this interesting gray paper with dark gray threads. What do you think of this one?


https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/ad273/rparkhurst/60WA_Background_6.JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds

[mustbebob]

This one is rather nice too. Very easy on the eyes.

[eaxtellcoin]

Very interesting how computer screens differ. The last few pictures in this hole group have great definition - all the detail is there. Problem is on my screen the photo's are almost bright brown in color. No Red at all still Great photo's Ray. Lighting is very tough for me also...

[ray_parkhurst]

Very interesting how computer screens differ. The last few pictures in this hole group have great definition - all the detail is there. Problem is on my screen the photo's are almost bright brown in color. No Red at all still Great photo's Ray. Lighting is very tough for me also...

The coin is a light reddish brown. Should have a bit of red on your monitor for sure. Is the background grey?