Macro Watch Photograph?

Thanks Ben!

John,

Thanks for those shots, you have some fantastic toys there. The 007 Omega is my first choice, your pics of the movements were excellent, very sharp with great detail. I find the mechanical complexity of these movements both facinating and beautiful, especially when captured so well.

Great work!

Sean

Daytona wrote:
I'm still learning in this area...see above.

That was before I saw your insect captures, excellent job.

Excellent shots. That Sea-Driller shot is my fav. I've tried watch macros, but couldn't master the lighting which, I think, is the most difficult part of watch macros. Welcome to the forum, btw.

Thanks Sean! Much appreciated! I love the Bond Seamaster...but I'm a Rolex fan first and foremost.

It's the mechanical movements that really create the passion for these time pieces.

Thanks much! I've seen some awesome work here...wonderful stuff!

Thanks for the welcome and kind words. You're correct - it's the lighting which makes watch photography particularly challenging. A light difusing box is a must!

Best,

John

Excellent shots !!!!!. A breath of fresh air from all the ugly bug pics...
Can you share some more please.

Thanks! I'll see what I can do.

I took a first swing at this after re-reading your article. I never take my watch off, and I've had it for about 5 years now, so it's got quite a few dings. I tried to clean up a few of them in PS. Let me know where to go from here.

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Hi Michael,

That's certainly an impressive first attempt. The photo is very clear and sharp! Here's a few suggestions:

1. Experiment using a warmer background, such as wood - I find that works better with gold or two tone watches.

2. You've got a hot spot on the bezel near the crown. If you highlight this area in Photoshop and play with the curves, you might be able to reduce it, but even better, try taking the shot again and use a reflector card or piece of printer paper held strategically over the watch to remove the glare. This is why I recommend using a timed shutter release in my article - it leaves both hands free to manipulate reflector cards.

Keep experimenting in both pre-shot set up, and post shot editing. Your off to a FANTASTIC start!

thanks for the advice..
here's another go at it.

Hopefully I'll be wrangling up some strobes before too long here (fingers crossed for Christmas). Until then, I'm using a 420ex on an off-shoe cord reflected off a lastolite tri-grip at camera right. A piece of black poster board to the left of the watch to control reflections on that side from the windows in my living room finished off the setup.

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Definitely an improvement! I'm sure those strobes will help even out the lighting from left to right.

Here's one of my favorite shots of my two tone 16613 Submariner - the dial color is similar to your Datejust, and very hard to capture properly:

#3 is very creative and well executed, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your kind words!