Tom, it's first necessary to begin with a camera that is capable of doing what you need done. I'll begin by speaking strictly about digital cameras that work with a computer. In general, the cheaper digital cameras won't do what I believe you would expect from it. The higher the resolution the camera will take, the better. In terms of pixel count, I'd want no less than 2MB and up. I'd look for an all-glass elements lens. Plastic is OK but won't give top quality. Macro focusing is a must and the closer the better. The more control you have over the camera's functions, the better. External flash capability (off-camera or hot shoe) is good. The recording media is important. The Sony cameras that use only standard floppy disks sound good but don't take high quality pictures. They make some now that use more than one media (memory sticks, compact disks) that are a huge improvement over the floppy disk only models. (My own camera is a Fuji S602Z that has complete manual controls, complete auto function or a combination such as aperature preferred or shutter speed preferred. It focuses down to 1 cm or .4 inches. The lens is all glass and I can use external flash. With a 128MB Smartmedia card I can take 102 high resolution pictures. IOW, it does all I've outlined and more too.)
A stable platform is necessary. A good tripod works wonders. Setting everything for the best angle isn't always easy when using a tripod but they're necessary.
Lighting is all-important. A light box with frosted glass and a light behind it will help make those shadow-less pictures you see in magazines and books. Then it's necessary to balance the light, generally with at least three lights, outside the box to eliminate the shadows. For close-ups of proof marks and other markings, a cross light will bring out the details. Lighting isn't as simple as one might think and entire books have been written about the techniques of good lighting. (The "ring flash" I mentioned before is a special flash that mounts on the front of a lens and the flash tube makes a complete circle. For macro-photography it gives a very even light that is perfect for showing detail in small objects. They are not cheap!)
Finally, a good photo manipulation program for your computer is a must. I use Corel Photo-Paint 8 but there are many good programs available. Take your pick and learn how to use it. I reduce my pixels-per-inch to 72 and my picture size to 5 or 6 inches in width to fit the screen without having to scroll. I always save the manipulated picture using a different file name and save the original just as it was taken for future use.
Your good advice to buy books about Lugers and read them is also good advice for learning photography. Your local library should have plenty of good books on basic photography and lighting. While most of them may be about film cameras, the basics still apply to digital photography. You may even want to check with the Gov. Printing Office about military training manuals for Photography Technical Schools. You can likely get a whole course for not much money. The technical manuals would be a good reference to have.
The information I've given is very basic but it should be a good starting point.
|