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PC "wallpaper" shots. (Caution: broadband only) https://www.breitlingsource.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=52	Page 1 of 2

Author:	O2AFAC67 [ Tue Mar 13, 2007 6:44 am ]
Post subject:	PC "wallpaper" shots. (Caution: broadband only)
A few of my favorite Breitling PC wallpapers from the past couple of years ... Most are sized 1024 wide but because of varying width/height ratio it is suggested the desktop background first be set to black before right clicking on a pic and saving it to your PC or setting it as wallpaper. Contact me if you would like one sized differently and I'll check to see if I have the original so I can do it with decent resolution. Cheers, Ron And a few earlier "artistic" shots...

Author:	breitling-chick [ Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:53 am ]
Post subject:
beautiful photos! so pretty! thank you

Author:	flyboy [ Wed Apr 04, 2007 1:55 pm ]
Post subject:
love those artistic ones.

Author:	Dutkowski [ Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:42 pm ]
Post subject:	WOW!
My first day after joining this Forum and I just found a picture ( your first up) of my DREAM WATCH! Thank YOU!

Author:	breitlingsource [ Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:58 pm ]
Post subject:
Welcome to the forum Don! Its good to have more Canadians here too!

Author:	Stanleycup2002 [ Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Great Pictures, Ron but
Where's your personalised B1? That'd make a great wallpaper!

Author:	Stanleycup2002 [ Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Great Pictures, Ron but
Where's your personalised B1? That'd make a great wallpaper!

Author:	O2AFAC67 [ Sun Apr 29, 2007 3:34 am ]
Post subject:	Hi, Stanleycup. It's in the mix now...
Stanleycup2002 wrote: Where's your personalised B1? That'd make a great wallpaper! plus a couple more newer shots of an Old Nav and a display back Cosmo. Cheers, Ron

Author:	alien13 [ Sun May 11, 2008 9:00 am ]
Post subject:
I know i am digging in the past, but this is really excellent stuff! Job well done really!

Author:	Driver8 [ Sun May 11, 2008 12:14 pm ]
Post subject:
Awesome stuff!

Author:	In2Deep [ Mon Jul 28, 2008 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:
These are all crazy! What kind of camera and lighting do you use?

Author:	O2AFAC67 [ Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:25 am ]
Post subject:
In2Deep wrote: These are all crazy! What kind of camera and lighting do you use? Hi, Mario. Actually I think I've improved my shots a lot in the last year or so since I posted those pics. Here are a few recent examples... I've posted my camera (Digital Rebel XT w/std kit 18-55mm lense) and techniques elsewhere and I'll try to find a link for you rather than retype the long explanation again... Cheers, Ron

Author:	In2Deep [ Tue Jul 29, 2008 8:45 am ]
Post subject:
That would be great! Thanks

Author:	jumanji [ Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:40 pm ]
Post subject:
AND THAT'S WHAT I CALL THE PROPER PHOTO! you have fantastic eye to taking photos, congratulations, and do not hesitate to add more! Regards, M

Author:	O2AFAC67 [ Tue Jul 29, 2008 6:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Hi, Mario. I found that post on another forum...
In2Deep wrote: That would be great! Thanks so I'll do a "cut and paste" for you on this thread. Some of the references to specific pictures can be imagined or you can find many of them by taking a look at my slideshow on Flickr. Here you are... The camera is an 8.3 megapixel Canon Digital Rebel XT with the standard 18-55mm "kit" lense. This complete rig is not expensive at all these days, perhaps around $600, a lot less than the $1K it cost a couple of years ago. I have considered buying another lense, perhaps a "macro" to take super sharp closeups but I prefer composition or "whole" watch shots over the "gee whiz look at that tiny fleck of dust" detail shots. I have described my very simple and easy photo techniques here on the forum in the past but I always have trouble searching back and finding the specific post so I'll attempt to do it one more time here... First, I do use a tripod and the "hands off" automatic shutter release (set to auto 10 second delay) to minimize "shake" as the shutter trips. For a "studio", I use an old watch winder box which has an open top and one side which is folded down. In other words, I am shooting into an open top box from the side. Depending on composition and colors, I often drape material such as a golf shirt or sweater underneath and behind the subject. Take a look at my slideshow on "flickr" and you'll see compositions with all kinds of stuff... gum, candy, coins, patches, etc., etc. Some have backgrounds showing, some do not. I often have the left and right insides of the box covered with white paper (not visible in the shot of course) to help gather more light. If I use a black shirt, there is essentially no background at all such as in the B-1 shots at the beginning of this thread. You may remember the "Poker" composition shot (below) of my EVO which has a green cloth napkin "floor" and a black shirt background. Makes it look like it was taken by one of the table cameras at a World Poker Tour tournament. LOL. Below that is the same watch on different color shirts or sweater. The blurred and shaded backgrounds are a result of "bunching" up the cloth material and the depth of field of the shot. The better ones are "zoomed in" onto the subject as much as possible with the camera as close as possible while still being able to obtain lense focus on the subject. This technique for setting depth of field blurs the background enough to disguise it while keeping the subject sharply in focus. Most importantly, I use "natural" light coming from behind the camera setup. Nothing more than an open glass door leading out to the patio deck area. Also very important, I diffuse (shade) the light by holding up a thin white cloth (a baby diaper, actually) behind the camera while the automatic shutter release counts down to trip time. I use automatic mode for f/stop and ISO settings and no flash. I am able to preview the shots via the LCD display at the back of the camera and I can usually tell which ones will be worth keeping and editing. Even though I have Photoshop 7, I havn't bothered to learn how to use it. Way too complex for me I think. I download the shots from the camera's memory card onto my computer and edit them with Picasa2 and Irfanview, both "freeware" and quite easy to use. Cropping and color/contrast/warmth is done with Picassa2 and re-sizing/sharpening is done with Irfanview (very good "lossless" compression). The explanation probably sounds more complex than it is in use. After trying the technique a couple of times, you would likely be surprised at how quickly you can set up a shot, take a few to "edit" and get them uploaded to a pic hosting service (photobucket) for posting on the forum. Simple shots such as a single watch and background can be posted on the forum sometimes within a half hour of the time they were shot. Compositions with more subject matter such as the "poker" shot require more positioning through the lense finder of course but it's really fun to do. With a bit of practice, the editing software becomes almost "rote" in usage to optimize the shots. To illustrate how easy it is... I had a lunch meeting with one of our members (Altan) a while back and using table items for settings and napkins for light diffusion we took shots of his Roger Dubuis which edited to catalog quality. The waiter kept coming back to our booth to watch and was amazed at what we showed him in the camera LCD display. Probably the biggest "secret" to getting the best result is to use the thin cloth diaper as opposed to something like a napkin or pillow case for light diffusion. The light is diffused, not blocked and that's key. One of the shots below is an interesting shot of my first Navitimer (1990 - still running perfectly) posed on a fine grain wooden box which was pushed up against a table board set vertically which has similar grain and coloring. By having the camera lense focal length as short as possible (about 4 to 5 inches from the watch yet still able to auto focus on the watch) the depth of field blurs the wood grain in the background (about 8 inches behind the watch) which makes the setting composition interesting because it contrasts so much with the sharp detail of the watch. When setting up a composition, details such as wood grain or cloth texture which are at the same focal length as the subject watch will "pop out" just like details on the watch and help make the shot more interesting. A few examples are below. IMHO they illustrate well how even a VERY amateur "hobby" photographer can achieve acceptable results with a little practice. Hope this helps some of you. Please post your shots when you get a chance to try some of these techniques. Hope this helps... Cheers, Ron

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