A simple guide to taking good wrist pics.

[Del 4,527]

I've been asked on many occasions how I manage to get good wrist pics so thought I'd share some simple tips.  There's nothing earth-shattering here and I will assume that you will be using your phone camera, rather than a "real" digital camera, and that you will want to take the photo quickly for upload to one of the various "wrist-check" threads on RWG.

 

1. Clean the watch.  I don't mean a full spa treatment but simply a quick polish of the crystal, bezel and top of case (that will be visible in the photo) to remove fingerprints and dust.  Use a microfibre cloth if possible but failing that the edge of your t-shirt or shirt sleeve, etc. and then give it a quick blow of air to remove any loose fibres.
    
2. Clean the phone camera lens. It will almost certainly be covered in dust and fingerprints from being in your pocket - there is no point in cleaning your watch only to have the photo ruined by a dirty lens!
    
3. You must hold the phone and your wrist as steady as possible to help reduce the chance of a blurred photo.  However, this will be difficult as movements in both of your hands will make taking a sharp photo challenging so rest your watch hand on a desk, table, your leg or against a wall to steady the watch.
    
4. Take the photo in a well-lit spot.  If you are indoors then try to take the photo where natural light is shining onto the watch, or where the artificial lighting is brightest - preferably "cool" LED lighting rather than "warm" lighting as this is closer to natural light. You will never take a good wrist shot in a poorly lit area - the phone camera will struggle to focus properly, the depth of field will be reduced and the photo will be grainy at best.
    
5. Try to reduce unwanted reflections on the crystal  by experimenting with different locations and different angles of the watch.  For example, if an artificial light source is reflecting on the crystal then it might be a simple case of angling your wrist away from the camera or indeed towards the camera.  The same goes with natural light - perhaps the window is reflecting badly on the crystal but by angling the watch towards the ceiling you can still get the benefit of the natural light but without the reflection of the window.
    
6. Use the phone's inbuilt photo editor to tweak the photo if required (the iOS one is excellent but I assume most modern Android phones have one too, or can be downloaded for free). For example, you can very simply increase the brightness and contrast to enhance the lighting in your photo, or make the photo cooler by decreasing the "cast" setting.  The best thing to do is to play about with the various settings and see for yourself what they do!
    
7. Finally, upload the photo to www.picr.me, which is easy to use from a mobile browser and enables you to easily copy the full size BB code for your uploaded photo ready to paste into the relevant wrist-check thread!

 

Some examples:-

Here is today’s wrist shot of my Tudor Black Bay. Note that my hand, although not visible, is in contact with the wall for support. And because of the natural light coming through the window from the left I only needed to brighten the photo slightly with the editor.  

 

This photo of my Tudor Black Bay GMT was from last week and my arm is clearly resting on my desk at work! The window is to the right but to minimise reflections on the crystal I angled the watch towards the ceiling.

 

I took this photo of my Omega Speedmaster on Sunday in a shopping centre with a glass roof. This is an example of when reflections are ok as I think they help accentuate the domed crystal on the watch. The natural light was bright so no editing was required.  

 

 

I hope some folk find this useful.  

 

[elp 26]

[Glaude 1,615]

Post like that requires a like button .... just sayin'....  

I would add to your cleaning recommendation : dust off the watch & camera lens before cleaning it too ! You won't scratch the metal or crystal with your shirt or microfibre cloth (as long as it's not filthy dirty of course) but any loose particle can be harder than the case or crystal material (tiny particles of sand are often harder than steel and mineral glass) and will be dragged around whilst cleaning, resulting in micro scratches everywhere  

I use Lightroom for mobile on Android 

[PostMaster 3,665]

11 minutes ago, elp said:

+1

I think taking wrist pics the most hardest but thank you Del for this. 

[Del 4,527]

 

27 minutes ago, elp said:

Added!  

[BadApple 13,230]

 

I find cleaning watch with microfibre and isopropyl cleaning alcohol is good and then having a quick swig before putting the lid back on...

Thanks for this Del as I've always wondered why my piccies are smaller on screen than others.  

 

 

 

[Bertus15 15]

45 minutes ago, Del said:

Here is today’s wrist shot of my Tudor Black Bay. Note that my hand, although not visible, is in contact with the wall for support. And because of the natural light coming through the window from the left I only needed to brighten the photo slightly with the editor.  

 

46 minutes ago, Del said:

I took this photo of my Omega Speedmaster on Sunday in a shopping centre with a glass roof. This is an example of when reflections are ok as I think they help accentuate the domed crystal on the watch. The natural light was bright so no editing was required.  

Once you know how to do things, they are  easy. The things you mentioned would never have occurred to me. The cleaning, yes, but the lighting and the reflections...nope.

Thanks a bunch!   

[Buglicker 0]

18 minutes ago, BADAPPLE said:

 

I find cleaning watch with microfibre and isopropyl cleaning alcohol is good and then having a quick swig before putting the lid back on...

 

Great tips Del - but for me this is the winner. I didn't realise I could drink that stuff.

[Bertus15 15]

I've just been playing around with taking pictures looking at the light and how it plays with the blue color of the hands. You've just opened up a whole new level of nerdiness to me 

[deju 1,889]

Light is so important especially with the iPhone, makes it a nightmare in Scotland

have you tried Snapseed for photo editing? Very good for cleaning up images on the fly. 

One of my better shots, resting against a wall as mentioned. Using a light ring from a magnifying glass  

 

[elp 26]

57 minutes ago, Buglicker said:

Great tips Del - but for me this is the winner. I didn't realise I could drink that stuff.

I shall be PM'ing you a disclaimer form for signature stating that you absolve RWG and any of its highly professional staff of all responsibility for any bodily injury incurred as a result of following BADAPPLE's suggestions, recommendations or ramblings.

[hasel5 4,811]

Think Iam getting it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hasel5 4,811]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BadApple 13,230]

28 minutes ago, elp said:

I shall be PM'ing you a disclaimer form for signature stating that you absolve RWG and any of its highly professional staff of all responsibility for any bodily injury incurred as a result of following BADAPPLE's suggestions, recommendations or ramblings.

I am working on sharp objects / strange shaped vegetables and bodily orifices and will publish my findings after practical research. 

[elp 26]

5 minutes ago, BADAPPLE said:

I am working on sharp objects / strange shaped vegetables and bodily orifices and will publish my findings after practical research. 

At this rate Pornhub will initiate a hostile takeover on RWG.

[fatarms 7,825]

Perfect!

 

[RussP 22,615]

37 minutes ago, fatarms said:

Perfect!

 

Top shot this!!

[splke 4,429]

Cheers @Del

Just fucked and fanned about with one I took this morning 

This is the original 

[Del 4,527]

1 minute ago, splke said:

Cheers @Del

Just fucked and fanned about with one I took this morning 

That’s pretty good mate but you’re giving yourself too much post-production work to do. If you use some of my tips above then your original pic will be much better and will therefore need less editing, which can be the time consuming part.  

[Nikosaldente 630]

Great advice Del! If the phone camera or the phone app allows it, you can play with the shutter speed 

No filters or editing done in this photo!

[Del 4,527]

1 minute ago, Nikosaldente said:

Great advice Del! If the phone camera or the phone app allows it, you can play with the shutter speed 

Great pic mate, and tip. I didn’t want to go too far with my “simple guide” as it can be quite difficult for those with little photography experience. Things like shutter speed introduces more complications like increased camera shake and depth of field, which could reduce the quality of a wrist pic!  

[splke 4,429]

8 minutes ago, Del said:

That’s pretty good mate but you’re giving yourself too much post-production work to do. If you use some of my tips above then your original pic will be much better and will therefore need less editing, which can be the time consuming part.  

cheers love i will have a go in the morning

i shake like a shiteing dog so i steady  the watch hand bit the camerea hand is a problem

i struggle to eliminate reflections too  ! I will have some fun tomorrow

 

 

[splke 4,429]

 

 

[Del 4,527]

14 minutes ago, splke said:

cheers love i will have a go in the morning

i shake like a shiteing dog so i steady  the watch hand bit the camerea hand is a problem

i struggle to eliminate reflections too  ! I will have some fun tomorrow

  In that case you could rest your camera hand on a book or arm of a chair that is higher than where you rest your watch hand, thus steadying both hands. When you find a suitable arrangement it makes it even easier and quicker to take a wrist shot as you can just replicate the set up each time (I use the same spots all the time!).  

[Glaude 1,615]

1 hour ago, fatarms said:

Perfect!