Photographer Techniques - Photographing Coins

Photographing Coins - Most folks might try using a tent or umbrellas of some sort to photograph a coin but what about a beam splitter? A beam splitter is a piece of glass that can have 60 percent reflectivity on one side and 40 percent on the other. This is angled in between the coin and the camera lens roughly at a four five degrees. A light is placed parallel to the studio camera shinning against the glass and reflecting onto the coin. You can actually watch the coin lighting as you change the angle tilt of the glass. Find the lighting suits you best and click.

Don't have a beam splitter, neither do I, try using simple piece of glass. This will give more contrast on a small shinny object than anything I have used, takes up no extra space in the studio and very easy to learn.