Appearance vs Lighting Angle

[ray_parkhurst]

In a thread on another forum I described in words what happens as the incident angle of light goes from "low" to "high". Here is a photo sequence showing the effect in 10 degree increments measured with a protractor. I used only one light to make the effect more prominent. The light is shining directly at the coin in each case, at the same distance from the coin and from approximately 9:00. I only went to 80-degrees because it would take a change of setup to achieve 90-degrees, or "axial".

Which do you prefer? Now, don't ask me "which one best represents the look of the coin in hand?" because they all do, it just depends on the angle you hold the coin to the light.

10-degrees


20-degrees


30-degrees


40-degrees


50-degrees


60-degrees


70-degrees


80-degrees

[coop]

The 80 degree one. Less glare.

[ray_parkhurst]

The 80 degree one. Less glare.

By "glare" do you mean overexposed highlights? It's easy to get rid of those at any lighting angle. Assuming those were gone in every case, would that change your decision?

[coop]

If you diffused the lighting on all images, that might change my opinion. Glare is an enemy ofgreat photos. Most of the time when someone want to show a doubled die, they place the area in question closest to the light source. All you can see is usually glare if the light is not diffused. I found on doubled dies it is better to rotate the coin 180 degrees and let the light fall over the doubled die. You can see the variety better. But if you have a good diffuser then the light source will show the light and shadows that you need to see.

[jcuve]

I would think anything over 60 degrees usually shows the coin surface in way more similar to having the light reflect off the coin in your hand. When it gets too low you start to see dust and get a dull appearance.

[ray_parkhurst]

I would think anything over 60 degrees usually shows the coin surface in way more similar to having the light reflect off the coin in your hand. When it gets too low you start to see dust and get a dull appearance.

I see the transition from edge highlights to surface highlights as important, and this occurs going from 50-60 degrees. There is a big change going from 60-70, and even bigger from 70-80.

Many copy stands have built-in lights that are at 45-degrees...

[jallengomez]

Certainly the 80 degree, but with some fill light. That might could be achieved with a simple reflector.

Ray-

Have you ever tried making a product softbox for coins, or do you find it better to use a makeshift softbox on the lights themselves?

[ray_parkhurst]

Certainly the 80 degree, but with some fill light. That might could be achieved with a simple reflector.

Ray-

Have you ever tried making a product softbox for coins, or do you find it better to use a makeshift softbox on the lights themselves?

I just used the one light in order to emphasize the effects. In an actual shoot I'd use 2, maybe with some fill or a reflector.

Lately I've been using what I guess could be called a softbox, except it is just from above rather than all around the coin. I will publish a pic some time later.

[ray_parkhurst]

OK, I took another sequence with two lights at 10 and 2, and adjusted levels to match the photos a bit better to each other. Here are the results:

10-deg


20-deg


30-deg


40-deg


50-deg


60-deg


70-deg


80-deg

[GrumpyEd]

I like the 80 degree pics best in both sets.

In the second set 70 seems improved from the first set but still I like 80 better.

[coop]

I agree. The 80 is best in both sets.

[simonm]

I like 70 and 80 on both, Ray.

[papascoins]

Ray, I really like the 80 degree because it produces a 'shadow' around the perimeter of the image (or bust). This is what I have seen make the coin 'pop' for you, as you have mentioned before.

[ray_parkhurst]

The original reason for doing this sequence was to show the difference between highlights on the edges of the devices like you see in the lower-angle shots versus shadows on the edges as you see on the higher-angle shots. On another forum a member asked for critique and his image showed that he was using a fairly low angle since all the devices had a "halo" effect, which seemed very unnatural. Unfortunately it's often difficult to get the lights at high angles since folks may use point and shoot cameras that can't get very far from the coin, or DSLRs with short focal length or large diameter lenses that block the light. In these cases all that showing the benefit of high angle lighting does is tell them their equipment is not up to the task, and that is not a very pleasant message to give.