The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello guys,

i promissed to give to all of you some light instructions about taking shots of your watches. Its very simply and I hope that these informations help you to improve your photoskills. Im not a professional photographer bud i like it, its one of my hobbies.

What do you need for good results:

- Digital camera, a SLR is better than compact one, but its not necessary, i have Canon 300D with basic 18-55mm or Sony NEX-3 with 18-55mm lens
- In worse lightning situations is better to have tripod
- Your watch
- A few minutes time
- Some photo editor like Adobe Photoshop or if you want a good free alternative I used a long time the Paint.NET, but Adpbe PS has better sharpening and filters results

This shot composition:

Today was a great weather and i want to take some easy everyday possibly shot in green grass for this manual, there is a few images what the scene looks







Its very simply, tripod i used only for documentation of this situation, it wasnt necessary for this image

How to setup your camera, what can help you:

- If you want to have a good detail of your watches and unsharpen background its good to use a maximum zoom of your lens - i used usually the end 55mm and minimal focus distance my camera have cca 25cm.
- I usually take my shots on "P" mode or "A" mode - aperture priority - if the number f5.6 (for example) is higher, you will have a more detailed objects, if is smaller you will have defocusing background, there is an example:



source: http://robinsnestingplace.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

[img]OK,%20now%20we%20go%20to%20the%20photoshop%20adjustments:[/img]

What the image looking without any adjust in PS? Here is the image - only resized



- First step which i try everytime is "Image - Adjustments - Auto levels" > sometimes i like it or sometimes click undo
- Second step is "Image - Adjustments - Selective color" to get for me ideal color balance of image - add the blue and cyan color reduce the blue AR look, black is good for more contract in image and other colors i use for tune the overall color balance. After that changes i have image looking like this



- Third step i use "Image - Adjustments - Replace color" - because this image has a yellow looking watch case and i dont want ho have it i chose thecolor which is "bad" in function replace color and tune the "Saturation" of it, after that my image looks



- Four step - I want to minimize the AR looking on this photo and again use Replace color function, select a part of color which i want to change and image has a better looking for me:



How the photoshop settings looks within this change? Here is a screenshot:



- Fifth step - Again use Replace color, because case can be more "gray-looking"



- Sixt step - yes of course, some contrast i use +35 contrast without legacy in "Image - Adjustments - Brightness/Contrast"

- Seventh step - i think that some light desaturation is not bad idea, OK -25% will be good

- Eight step - now its almost done - if ill have a lot of time, is this right step for retouches of dust on glass, case etc, but no i dont have time for it

- If its ready to finish, OK, resize it please My usually size is 900x600 - its not too small and not too big, its done and the final step which i do is sharpen image in "Filter - Sharpen - Sharpen"

And the final image look like this:



And what is the difference?



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I know that is not a special image, it was taken for this manual, i hope that can helps to you have the best images of your nice watches

So sorry for my english - i hope that will be better in the future

Cheers, Mike

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Thank you for this. I have learned much about the photoshop part that I never knew before. The only thing I would add is on the camera end. I use a DSLR so I set the camera to the 10 second delay on the shutter release so as to allow the camera to stop shaking from the mirror movement. I am also not a fan of doing any image processing in camera. My camera settings are all set to normal and that way I can do my image correction in Photoshop. I do this as the software in the camera has limited adjust-ability and tends to be very global in effect. I also do not use the auto levels and only use unsharp mask. Again I like to have the adjust-ability that provides me. The steps you take to remove color make an amazing difference in the shot. I am going to have to go back through my stuff to see how it effects my photo's. Thanks again for posting this involved manual, I for one have gained much from your explanations. You are a gentleman for sharing your secrets with all of us.
Best health, Frank.

Spiderer - very helpful, thank you. I'm still trying to get the hang of the replace color function. I grabbed your image in step three (yellow case) and tried it, and the color selection is very selective. Meaning, I select a portion of the yellow I want to desaturate, and it only works on that specific shade of yellow, leaving every other shade of yellow untouched. I found after five tries with five different shades of yellow, I still had a long way to go. How many times did you have to do it to get from yellow to gray on that step?

Also, I'm wondering if my version of Photoshop has something to do with it - I have 7.0.1, which goes back almost ten years now.

Thanks spiderer for posting this. It is very helpful and will give me a lot to work on for the foreseeable future I shall work and show you guys my progress. Mind you that I am very new to photography and work with a Casio ex-z35 I've also been using photoshop for about a week now So what I am trying to say is that I am just popping my photography cherry

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Alex
Breitling - Navitimer
Breitling - SuperOcean
Breitling - Chrono SuperOcean

I think this thread deserves to be a sticky. A lot of people can benefit from the information in here.

Who said that this is a watch only forum? That's why I love this place.

Thanks a trillion spiderer. Now I must find some free time to exercise. What should I expect from my old Sony DSC W-100? Can I make anything out of it?

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

I actually posted saying the same thing earlier but it seems to have gone missing!

Mods: I think it would be a great idea to have a sticky on 'how to' take better pics. To name a few Spiderer, Heldeberg and Damnfoolman spring to mind straight away. If I could just get a few tips like the one above it would be of great benefit to myself, the forum and other members in general!

Cheers

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Currently:
Avenger Skyland(Black)
Super Avenger(White)

Moved on:
Montbrillant Legende(Silver)
Panerai 312
SOHC 125th Ann. LE(Silver)
Navitimer World(Pearl)
Panerai 441

A lot of compact cameras can do a good photo in the right hands There is my very old photo with some Casio compact camera that was very cheap, its not so bad i think

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I think that you can do some good images with your camera, you need to have sharp eyes and try to snap your watches around and around and trust me that you will find what angle, distance and composition is right, for your satisfaction i post image of my previous IWC aquatimer chrono with the same range camera that you have Panasonic xxx

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You gotta love high-res bug porn.

Sweet IWC pics, especially the water one.

Thank you for your support guys!

Now ill post an easier progress when the photographer is thinking when takes a shots - final picture needs minimal care

1) Pic from camera - only resized



2) Classic adjusts for me - Selective color - more black, a little changes in other colors



3) In the finish add some light contrast, resize it and sharpen - and final image is there /on dial are a few rotouches like the dust or what shadow on the six etc/



I know that the bracelet needs some retouches too, but its to difficult and time consuming that i do it only on the best shots if i have time for it

EDIT: Before taken picture is very recommended to clean your watch, your post-processing work will be easy, if you have some dust on glass, bracelet and other parts, its time waster to clean it in your graphical editor

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Its hard to answer this question - this step is about finding the right color to adjust, sometimes i need to have 2-4 steps then this operation is ready, it depends on how much specific is the color which we need to desaturate or change - in this image i have only one step and found it on the yellow color on bezel and on PS have fuziness 200 and saturation -75, for a better result be better take it with smaller fuziness (cca 80-120) and check it from 2-3 colors in 2-3 steps

Cheers, Mike

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Thanks for posting! I see this thread being a popular one!

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Past: BlackBird, Navi World, SA, Rolex DJII, IWC Yacht Club
Present: CE, DSSD
Future: Changes daily

Spiderer, you are a genius! That looks fantastic! Now I am truly inspired to go out there and try some new things with the cam and my Breitlings. Thanks man

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Alex
Breitling - Navitimer
Breitling - SuperOcean
Breitling - Chrono SuperOcean

Spider, the camera is just a tool, the photographer takes the shot. Great work.
Best health, Frank.