Help:Photography

Photography is important to a visual medium like WikiCoins. Producing quality coin photos is fun and easy with today's digital tools. This page outlines the tools and techniques I use for taking pictures of coins and uploading them to WikiCoins.

Photography Equipment
I recommend using a digital camera with an interchangeable lens and tripod or camera mount. This equipment allows a single setup to produce large numbers of quality photos.



Camera
Cameras have gone digital. Digital cameras are a fast way to get your images on-line. The price of digital cameras has been dropping a great deal and you should find a wide range of choices in the marketplace. I recommend buying a Nikon or Canon camera with an interchangeable lens because you'll need a wide-angle lens for taking pictures of your coins.

Wide-Angle Lens
The most important piece of equipment for taking pictures of coins is a wide-angle lens. Most "normal" camera lenses are designed for taking pictures of people or scenery and can't capture detail on small objects. A wide-angle lens is designed for this purpose. You'll need a camera that allows you to change the lens because a wide angle lens is not typically standard. I bought a wide-angle lens for my digital Nikon and it works great for taking pictures of coins.

Tripod or Camera Mount
Once you have your digital camera and wide angle lens, you'll want to setup a proper environment for taking pictures. Pay special attention to mounting and lighting. You want to mount your camera on a tripod or stand to hold it steady ---the most common cause of blurry images is a camera that is moving while the picture is being taken. Then, make sure your work area is well-lit. Natural light (sun light) works best but isn't always practical. You may want to find "natural light" equivalent light bulbs for lighting. Lighting is a discipline in and of itself and extremely important. I encourage you to find a lighting setup that works best then keep it the same.

Photoshop
Photoshop is the preferred software tool for photo manipulation. It is available for Macinstosh, Windows, and on-line (the on-line version is free). Photoshop can be used to resize, color correct, compress, or otherwise manage your digital photos.

Uploading Images
Images are uploaded to WikiCoins in one of two ways:
 * 1)  Upload images to the wiki using the Upload file link in the toolbox.
 * 2)  Upload images to a buy/sell ad using the "UPLOAD IMAGE 01", "UPLOAD IMAGE 02", "UPLOAD IMAGE 03", "UPLOAD IMAGE 04", and "UPLOAD IMAGE 05" buttons.

All images should be 150k or less. There is no limit on the image dimensions.