So some friends of mine are building a website to sell vintage watches and asked for some help with taking product shots. They gave me a few watches to try out and I figured I'd share the results with you all because no one in my family understands.
My intent was to do something clean and professional that wasn't on a white background. I'm still working out the lighting and the angles but I feel like I'm on the right track.
Settings! (for all the camera perverts... I see you)
Canon 5D MK II
100mm F2.8 Macro
1/125 @ f8.0
ISO 100
2 Godox AD200 Strobes
2 24" soft boxes
Key 1/8 power, Fill 1/16
This account is verified. WatchCrunch has confirmed that this account is the authentic presence for this person or brand.
Looks great, only thought is to use black mat instead of grey. Heightens the contrast and colorways.... good luck with the site
I’d say you’re on the right track 👍🏻 Two points: try and even out the lighting (you’ve got a bit too much on the right hand side and too little on the bottom) and remember it’s about the watch, not the artful interplay of wood and grey :) It certainly looks nice, but the % of space the watch case now occupies in the pictures is (too) small imho. Oh, and last one: when the watch is lying flat, put some weights on the ends so it will lie really flat, and you’ll lose the shadows underneath. Good luck!
Looks great, only thought is to use black mat instead of grey. Heightens the contrast and colorways.... good luck with the site
I think I'm going to darken the liner in post. It's naturally that light grey color. It shouldn't be too hard though!
I’d say you’re on the right track 👍🏻 Two points: try and even out the lighting (you’ve got a bit too much on the right hand side and too little on the bottom) and remember it’s about the watch, not the artful interplay of wood and grey :) It certainly looks nice, but the % of space the watch case now occupies in the pictures is (too) small imho. Oh, and last one: when the watch is lying flat, put some weights on the ends so it will lie really flat, and you’ll lose the shadows underneath. Good luck!
The next time I shoot I'm going to add bounce cards to fill the shadows. My challenge is shooting though domed crystals (like the Accutron) in a way you can still see the dial. I might also try a grid over the softbox to cut reflections. The weights is also a great idea 🤝
The next time I shoot I'm going to add bounce cards to fill the shadows. My challenge is shooting though domed crystals (like the Accutron) in a way you can still see the dial. I might also try a grid over the softbox to cut reflections. The weights is also a great idea 🤝
Sound ideas. Good luck! Seems simple, but watches with all their reflective surfaces and especially, as you mentioned, that darn dome are very hard to photograph. 80 - 90% right is readily doable with a bit of effort, but getting that last 10% right…can take hours, days or even weeks!