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Silverspeed

How to photograph watches

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Mazz

Wow 2 spammers in the same thread in one day

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jeffw69

Silver, thanks for the tutorial.

I will give it a shot.

Most of my pics have been coming out blurry, so we'll see if this helps.

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Dr Yan

Jeff. I think it's specsavers you need buddy. :D

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jeffw69

Jeff. I think it's specsavers you need buddy. :D

 

 

Yeah, I know!!!

 

 

Pic removed

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jeffw69

OK, read the tutorial, made adjustments on my camera:

 

628451ec.jpg

 

 

79fc99e8.jpg

 

 

ef306a2c.jpg

 

 

9b61a9b8.jpg

 

 

06bc95f6.jpg

 

 

 

What do u think?

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Dr Yan

I dont think its very nice to use a picture of an unfortunate kid to make a laugh !

 

Thats what i think

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Crusader

The 3rd pic is blurry, but that's probably because you hold the watch a bit too close for the camera to focus, others are great.

 

And usually the best photos can be done near the window or in the shade outside, since there is the most light :)

 

Keep it up mate, watches are difficult to photograph, we all know that :lol:

Edited by Crusader

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jeffw69

Thanks.

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jeffw69

I dont think its very nice to use a picture of an unfortunate kid to make a laugh !

 

Thats what i think

 

 

Sorry if I offended you dr yuan, I just looked up your name in google images and thats what came up.

 

anyway, I removed the pic(of course it was nothing like the unfortunate pic that you post, "yeah, I know")

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Dr Yan

Theres a big difference between a real child with a serious genetic disorder with all the difficulties that come with that and an adult comedian playing a comic character

 

Ya know !

 

Anyway I know you didn't mean any harm by it. ;)

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dumaz

Very useful topic, thank you!

IMHO cheapest method to get some nice results is natural light, correct angle from reflections and correct depth of field.

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irate03

I hope people don't mind me chipping in on this thread. I've only been in to watches for a year or so but i've been a photographer for many years and shooting things like watches is no different to other product shots with reflective surfaces, I have DSLR's, studio lighting, small strobes etc but it's really not essential as people have said here, one of the important things if your using available light is fixing you're white balance, in camera if you can or in post production. Another thing to use is bounced light and negative light, if you point a flash at a shiny subject it's going to bounce back, but metal and glass don't look great with big burnt out hot spots. I don't have a light tent/dome so I use negative and positive reflective lighting, this basically means bounce the light off a surface to soften it but also to fill the reflective surface.

If you bounce the light off a ceiling, that ceiling is huge and will fill an area of metal or plastic or glass that is reflecting the lit area (the ceiling) it's not reflecting the light but what is being lit, so if it's a ceiling or wall you may also see yourself, a lamp stand, a door frame etc in the reflection, that's where tents and dome's work great. BUT tents give a very clean all over light. To create directional lighting all you need is a light source and pieces of white and black card or paper.

To create a dark face or edge use the black card, position it so you can see the reflection of the card from where you're shooting, that's negative light, it's essentially taking away the bright reflection and replacing it with a dark one, perfect for dial shots. Make sure the card is close enough or large enough to fill the area so no other reflections creep in. When you want a bright/white reflection do the same thing but with the white card.

If you're using a table lamp place a black card between it and the watch so you can't see the bulb highlight or the cable or the pretty pattern on the shade ohmy.png) then use a white card to reflect the light from the lamp in to the part of the watch you want to light (have a bright reflection) don't forget that if you're using a lamp your going to have an orange colour cast so you need to either select a white balance setting or correct the cast in post production. most camera's do a decent job with preset white balance settings but they are never perfect. If you can make a 'custom white balance' then use a white sheet of paper under the lighting you are using to set it up.

 

I got a little carried away there and have probably repeated what others have said but here's a few examples of different setups i've used.

 

Today's quick garden photoshoot, using daylight only, using a A3 white card to block some of the brightest highlights but because it's white it bounces a soft fill light over everything to, it's an over cast day so there's lots of soft light bouncing around. (i've broken my own rule here by using a white card to create negative light, but as long as it's creating a shadow it's still dark enough to do the job, i held it above the watch and below was dark wood so there was very little light bouncing off the card surface)

 

mini_6152_01.jpg

 

 

mini_6152_02.jpg

 

 

mini_6152_03.jpg

 

 

mini_6152_04.jpg

 

 

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

shot indoors using three flashguns all set at low power and positioned at the same height as the watch pointing away from the watch in to white bounce cards, and using large black cards to clip the harsh reflections and flag the light.

 

mini_vintage_01.jpg

 

mini_vintage_02.jpg

 

mini_vintage_03.jpg

 

mini_vintage_04.jpg

 

mini_vintage_06.jpg

 

mini_vintage_09.jpg

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

This is a quick set up just bouncing a flash of an angled ceiling, not so polished but it was showing what i needed to show.

 

mod_hands_01.jpg

 

mod_hands_01.jpg

 

myMM4.jpg

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

A more prepared shoot with my first Pam homage- lighting diagram at the bottom.

 

myMM_7.jpg

 

myMM_8.jpg

 

myMM_9.jpg

 

myMM_product_1.jpg

 

myMM_product_2.jpg

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

 

This is lit by the screen of a 27inch iMac with a blank google page positioned behind the watch....BIG SOFT LIGHT!!!!

 

mini_6152_08.jpg

Edited by irate03

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Crusader

There's a new sheriff in town, beware photographers :D

 

Great write up mate, very detailed.

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Prancuzas

wow, really impressive!

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jeffw69

Thanks irate!

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Cyril_Clunge

Excellent stuff, thank you

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Del

Very interesting write-up irate03, and very nice pics too btw! ;)

 

Although I can produce some fairly decent pics, I'm nowhere near as experienced or as knowledgable as you so this has given me some more food for thought - thanks for posting. :thumbsup2:

 

I now feel the need to spend the weekend trying out some of these tips!

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solkryssare

Thank you for putting this together for us mate :) I really need to learn this stuff soon......

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dumaz

Very useful lighting examples, irate03! Thanks.

Now, gents, grab your photoweapons and do the shooting!

Practise makes perfect!!!

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dingle

Thank you for putting this together for us mate :) I really need to learn this stuff soon......

 

+1

 

:)

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Molcos

Could i just add how much difference a digial SLR does compared to a regular digital camera.

I have a Nikon D90 with a 50mm 1.8d fixed lens

 

I don't ever think it's possible to take a bad shot with that setup.

Just make sure you have a good light source, i never use a flash.

 

I saw some really awesome photos in this thread...talented people here.

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luminox

awesome post,makes me wanna buy some new lense wide for my SLR :(

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Baldrick
Now, gents, grab your photoweapons and do the shooting!

Practise makes perfect!!!

 

OK.....

 

Daylight shots...!!!!

6886422810_402fc4e4b8_o.jpg

 

 

BREITLING QTZ 1 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6888539494_8cc54c8963_o.jpg

 

 

BREITLING QTZ 2 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6949907031_52dd997956_o.jpg

 

 

6947620235_e9d9a32273_o.jpg

V&C 1 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6947620097_18706ce504_o.jpg

 

 

AP RO COMP 4 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

 

 

STUDIO SHOTS

441JUNE2008CORUMADMIRALSCUPH.jpg

332CHOPARDGTXLWHITEDIAL_BLACKDIAL.jpg

390CHOPARDGTXLGMT8.jpg

435MAY2008EBEL1911BTRQTZ2.jpg

330PANERAI111TITANIUM_1950COMBO.jpg

7184934570_bf72da925c_o.jpg

 

 

AP MAY 1 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6733183045_27e74c7b3a_o.jpg

 

 

PAN DAYLIGHT 1 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6733068497_65a8e88190_o.jpg

 

 

NAVITIMER by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6714766261_5a618f5f92_o.jpg

 

 

PLANET OCEAN CHRONO 5 QTZ by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

6674850989_b2fd5bf99a_o.jpg

 

 

TAG MONACO 24_1 by Hugh_Jorgen, on Flickr

 

Daylight's good, but it won't ever match the control you can exercise in a studio...and not a single flash fired in anger....flash is NOT good for watch photography.....all photos shot with 2x 5500k bulbs ..with the camera set for 5500k...no need to white balance!

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Pihlippe

Stunning pictures Baldrick. :thumbsup:

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machiavegli

Goddamn Silver and Baldrick et al, I need to up my game!!! There are some unbelievable pics on this thread! Thanks for the food for thought...

-Mach

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