Rolex Explorer II

[fWord]

For those who haven't already spent all their money on camera gear:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/s1ckpuppy/RolexExplorerII.jpg

:D

Shot with a handheld flash unit fired manually at full power. A homemade tin foil reflector was placed to the right of the setup.

[Ianfp]

Nice result and very nice watch!

[fWord]

Nice result and very nice watch!

Thanks. I was having difficulty being creative with the composition, so I finally decided to get very near and experiment with the effect. It doesn't show the whole watch, but I hope viewers get the idea.

[GregFarz78]

I like the composition but is that flash glare on the face of the watch?

[fWord]

I like the composition but is that flash glare on the face of the watch?

Thanks. Good that you noticed that. It's not glare per say, but it's simply light that has entered the magnifying glass over the date and appeared as a bright patch on the watch face.

[Daytona]

Not bad for a first effort! :)

The Explorer II is a great watch, and the white dial version is my preference:

http://www.rolexreferencepage.com/wallpapers/16570cFULL.jpg

http://www.rolexreferencepage.com/images/expiiposter1.jpg

http://www.rolexreferencepage.com/wallpapers/16570AFULL.jpg

[fWord]

Not bad for a first effort! :)

The Explorer II is a great watch, and the white dial version is my preference:


Wow, nice product shots there!

The challenge I think was trying to get enough light to photograph the watch (with a moving second-hand) in natural light. Ultimately I gave up and resorted to using flash to highlight features of the watch. Naturally this also somewhat freezed the movement of the second hand so it didn't become an unrecognizable blur.

The Explorer II is a watch that charmed me since a young age when I first saw it advertised on the back cover of a Reader's Digest magazine. Finally I've managed to save up enough to get one for myself.

Now I'm trying to locate one of these old adverts again so laminate and keep with the watch as a memory. I'd hope to use the watch for many years to come, but because of the nature of my job it's not something I can wear everyday without damaging it somehow.

As it is, even for casual wear, it's already acquired a few scratches on its polished surfaces, which is inevitable I guess. Nothing attracts scratches more than a new watch (or a new-ish second-hand watch). :D

[bob393]

Nice mug shots! real nice.

[fWord]

Nice mug shots! real nice.

Thanks. However all except the first image do not belong to me. I'm still learning how to do those product shots! :lol:

[elwood58]

I like what looks like suit material background in your shot.

[DVS_WiNdz]

Nice shots. Very nice watch :)

[felino]

AWESOME PICTURE!!! Hope you dont mind can I make this the wallpaper of my computer? BTW can you share the setup you had in taking the picture? what lens etc?

[fWord]

I like what looks like suit material background in your shot.

Thanks. That background was indeed of part of a pinstripe suit. I thought that the watch would go very well with a black suit. The white face of the watch really sets off its features against a black suit.

There's a black-dial version of this watch also which is more popular, but it was the white one that really charmed me as a kid.

[fWord]

Nice shots. Very nice watch :)

Thank you. I only hope to keep up the interest in it. As human nature goes, interest usually wanes after you finally get something, and before long you're after something bigger. Thus far I've yet to find another watch that I like as much as this one.

That said there's lots of special ones out there with their own special features.

[fWord]

AWESOME PICTURE!!! Hope you dont mind can I make this the wallpaper of my computer? BTW can you share the setup you had in taking the picture? what lens etc?

Thanks, I'm more flattered that you would do that.

The setup was extremely simple. The watch was laid flat on a suit. The camera was setup just above the watch, keeping the plane of the sensor as parallel to the watch face as possible to ensure as much of the watch face would be in the depth of field.

Then a home-made tin foil reflector was placed to the right of the watch. A flash was handheld, and fired at full power at a slight angle but mostly towards the ceiling. Very easy, just took time to get it right.