1.Always set the time
As always, branding is key In product photography. This is especially true when it comes to watch photography. Tradition in the watch advertisement industry is to set the time exactly or close to the 10:10 position. This is to ensure the logo is perfectly framed In between the two hands of the watch. Strangely this tradition often even continues to digital watches even though there are no hands to position.
2. Mechanical Watches and Unscrewed Crowns
Luxury watches are often mechanical or automatic meaning that sometimes when we move the watch to the set, our previously stopped watch can start up again. This can create inconsistency from shot to shot. As time is always precious on a product photography shoot, we don’t want to be waiting around for the watch to run out of power again. The work around for this is to pull out the watches crown, stopping the hands from moving. From here, we can carefully move the watches crown to the original position in post production.
3. Controlling Reflections
It is very common for watches to consist almost entirely of stainless steel and chrome. These reflective materials can be problematic for product photography and as such it is often necessary to introduce white reflectors into our set for the watches to reflect onto. This can be important to stop watches from appearing darker than they are in person.
4.Velvet softening
Photographing watches inside their luxury boxes can be full of imperfections. The nature of velvet makes it tricky to get a soft look right out of camera. In photoshop we can use a gradient along with a high pass filter in order to get a soft look in the final image.
5.Focus Stacking
Shooting very close up macro watch images like the one above is achieved through a process known as focus stacking. This is when we take several of the same image with the camera positioned on a tripod. Each shot will have slightly different parts of the watch in focus. From here we combine all of the images in photoshop and voila, all of the details we need in focus are nice and sharp.
Conclusion
Teal Studios are specialists in product photography of all kinds. We love luxury watch photography shoots and ensure that your watches look perfect on your site and on social media. Get in touch today to book a shoot with Manchesters top affordable product photography studios today.