Macro tryout

[Pix]

When dealing with dust, after cleaning the watch place a small fan next to it, it will keep the dust from falling on the piece.

[sutats]

Thanks for the pointer Pix, that's genius! I'll give that a try if I have space but hopefully a small pocket size fan should work too.

I received my MEMTEQ phone camera lens kit today and the pics below were taken using the macro lens from the kit, without any edits except for a forum-friendly resize. It's my first time using a phone clip-on lens and it was pretty easy but up really close I had to mount the phone from shaking and it would've been a good idea to also fashion a screen around the lens to keep the clip and phone from showing up in reflections.

BTW, my original phone camera lens kit order that went missing has just been resent to me, I'll try it when it arrives.

[sutats]

So my Mpow phone camera macro lens incidentally arrived the day after my previous post with the MEMTEQ phone macro lens. This lens works even closer but at such proximity the lens and phone's reflection is even trickier to avoid.

Well here's a couple of pics with the lens.

[sutats]

As much fun as the phone macro lenses were it was a challenge to avoid reflections. So, I'm back to the DSLR camera with the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 40mm F/2.8G lens and this time with a Tudor Submariner Snowflake Marine Nationale (MN) ref 7016/0.

Here's a few pics. Should I have applied some post processing brightening up?

[Dismount]

Originally Posted by sutats

Thanks for the pointer Pix, that's genius! I'll give that a try if I have space but hopefully a small pocket size fan should work too.

I received my MEMTEQ phone camera lens kit today and the pics below were taken using the macro lens from the kit, without any edits except for a forum-friendly resize. It's my first time using a phone clip-on lens and it was pretty easy but up really close I had to mount the phone from shaking and it would've been a good idea to also fashion a screen around the lens to keep the clip and phone from showing up in reflections.

BTW, my original phone camera lens kit order that went missing has just been resent to me, I'll try it when it arrives.

Nice pics.

[sutats]

Originally Posted by Dismount

Nice pics.

Thank you very much. They are really excellent contributions.

So last week I received my new Amzdeal 40cm light tent, my first ever light tent! It's portable and folds away into a flat case and really saves enormous bother compared with my very fiddly and dust exposed DIY setup. Excitingly, I also received my OxyLED 12 LED ultraviolet torch light for brilliant lume shots.

This week I received my Amir phone camera lens kit. It's the third phone camera lens kit I've tried, the macro shots of the previous kits were posted earlier in the thread. It works well but albeit with the unavoidable inherent closeup reflections of such attachments. It's still fun to play around with and here are a few pics using it with my usual Sony Xperia Z3 Compact smartphone. And followed by a couple of pics with my Nikon D3300 and Nikon Micro-Nikkor 40mm F/2.8G lens.

Thanks to Kevan, I also tried using the preset manual white balance for the first time but the effects were negligible given that there was obviously no white on the Tudor Submariner Snowflake Marine Nationale (MN) ref 7016/0. lol. But I'll be ready next time.

All pics are straight from the cameras and only resized for forum friendliness.

Amir phone camera lens kit.





Nikon D3300 with Nikon Micro-Nikkor 40mm F/2.8G lens.

[AdamZ]

This thread makes me want to pull out my macro lens (which I barely use) and shoot my Longines Flagship as practice for when I get my Sub. As a photographer, I sometimes forget how weird and wonderful all the photography jargon must sound to those not as deeply involved in their photography as myself and it was interesting reading what people wrote about white balance, lens focal length (the number of mm), and apertures etc. I haven't seriously tried shooting watches as my work is primarily shooting houses and people, but I do know that shooting anything highly reflective can bring about a lot of difficulties. When those shiny things are small and you want to get up close, there's a whole lot more to consider.

Another thing I found interesting early in the thread was someone saying something about sunlight being something you can't control. That isn't exactly correct. You can control sunlight by using a scrim (a material to filter the light through to soften it). You can also use reflectors (a piece of white card works well when photographing a small item). You can also do the opposite and use a matte black surface to block light from a particular direction, and add darkness to help make your shiny object stand out from a light coloured background, and/or define the shape more.

Sutats, you mentioned that "tried using the preset manual white balance for the first time but the effects were negligible given that there was obviously no white on the Tudor Submariner Snowflake Marine Nationale (MN) ref 7016/0" - I assume the pictures you posted are after and then before the white balance was changed? If so, the difference is far from negligible - they are extreme. The top pictures look natural, while what I assume are the before shots look very unnatural - on the very bottom picture there is a strong yellowish colour cast over the entire image. White balance is not only about whites, it is about making the colours appear natural, the way we expect them and is necessary because different light sources have different colour temperatures. Even the colour of daylight changes throughout the day.

Any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer

Cheers

Adam

PS: Colour/Color - it's all the same but i can't bring myself to use the American spelling.

[Kevan]

Just reading this thread, I shall get the camera out over the christmas period and take a few. Sadly, no new Rolex to shoot this year, Santa is increasing my Sonos system and Mrs Kevan is getting sparkly things, which are very difficult to capture.

My daughter is home for the christmas period so I get an opportunity to clean her Pepsi and I shall photograph the said time piece in all of its glory - battle scarred. I may do before and after cleaning macros... not a pleasant thought.

[sutats]

Originally Posted by AdamZ

This thread makes me want to pull out my macro lens (which I barely use) and shoot my Longines Flagship as practice for when I get my Sub. As a photographer, I sometimes forget how weird and wonderful all the photography jargon must sound to those not as deeply involved in their photography as myself and it was interesting reading what people wrote about white balance, lens focal length (the number of mm), and apertures etc. I haven't seriously tried shooting watches as my work is primarily shooting houses and people, but I do know that shooting anything highly reflective can bring about a lot of difficulties. When those shiny things are small and you want to get up close, there's a whole lot more to consider.

Another thing I found interesting early in the thread was someone saying something about sunlight being something you can't control. That isn't exactly correct. You can control sunlight by using a scrim (a material to filter the light through to soften it). You can also use reflectors (a piece of white card works well when photographing a small item). You can also do the opposite and use a matte black surface to block light from a particular direction, and add darkness to help make your shiny object stand out from a light coloured background, and/or define the shape more.

Sutats, you mentioned that "tried using the preset manual white balance for the first time but the effects were negligible given that there was obviously no white on the Tudor Submariner Snowflake Marine Nationale (MN) ref 7016/0" - I assume the pictures you posted are after and then before the white balance was changed? If so, the difference is far from negligible - they are extreme. The top pictures look natural, while what I assume are the before shots look very unnatural - on the very bottom picture there is a strong yellowish colour cast over the entire image. White balance is not only about whites, it is about making the colours appear natural, the way we expect them and is necessary because different light sources have different colour temperatures. Even the colour of daylight changes throughout the day.

Any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer

Cheers

Adam

PS: Colour/Color - it's all the same but i can't bring myself to use the American spelling.

Hey Adam, what are you waiting for! Let's see some pics. I'll have to experiment with white balance again, I was quite likely doing it wrong that first time as I always shoot in various automatic shooting modes.

Originally Posted by Kevan

Just reading this thread, I shall get the camera out over the christmas period and take a few. Sadly, no new Rolex to shoot this year, Santa is increasing my Sonos system and Mrs Kevan is getting sparkly things, which are very difficult to capture.

My daughter is home for the christmas period so I get an opportunity to clean her Pepsi and I shall photograph the said time piece in all of its glory - battle scarred. I may do before and after cleaning macros... not a pleasant thought.

Hey Kevan, hopefully your Daughter's Pepsi is still around. Get that camera out quick and snap away otherwise happily shoot and share what you've got.

Here's some pics I took today of my trusty old Tudor Submariner Snowflake Marine Nationale (MN) ref 7016/0 using my equally trusty Nikon D3300 DSLR camera with the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 40mm F/2.8G lens. As you can see from pics I'm out of practise but hey it's a start after a hiatus from this thread.

[sutats]

Here we go again with the trusty Nikon D3300 DSLR camera with the Nikon Micro-Nikkor 40mm F/2.8G lens. But this time with a new subject matter being the Tudor Mini-Sub 73090 Blue. Here's a couple of pics, they're not great but were the best of a big lot I snapped.

[gabrielc]

macro photography of my watch Sea Dweller 4000

[sutats]

Originally Posted by gabrielc

macro photography of my watch Sea Dweller 4000

That's really terrific! Excellent captures of the laser etched Rolex crown and lume in motion. Did you apply any software filters or editing?

[GolfPunk]

Daytona Ceramic Macro!!

[regnant]

YM II 116680 and GMT MASTER II 116670

[GolfPunk]

[gabrielc]

thanks..no use a macro lens and my iPhone to illuminate the glass

[sutats]

Thanks for sharing your cool macro shots guys.

I managed to spare some time for a few shots of the Daytona 116520 Black Dial. Same equipment as before; Nikon D3300 DSLR camera with a Nikon Micro-Nikkor 40mm F/2.8G lens. I noticed that the slightest change in lighting can dramatically change the mood of the picture with such a reflective watch. A fair amount of time was spent positioning my two light tent lamps to achieve the desired outcome.

[VIP]

Daytona





Instagram: @vip_watch_brasil

https://www.instagram.com/vip_watch_brasil/

[]´s

[gabrielc]

My SD4000

[sutats]

Originally Posted by gabrielc

My SD4000

That's cool. No pun intended.

I'm starting to get the hang of it.

[Why-Not]

Taking pictures of the shiny objects can be challenging.
Here are some tips I can share from my own experience.
Clean up a watch the best way you can. When it is possible, wash it before the shooting.
Wear soft gloves when shooting highly polished surfaces.
The second-best cleaning tool is Photoshop. Use it to get rid of the remaining dust spots.
Always use a tripod.
Play with the aperture to get the desired depth of field.
Use natural light as much as possible.
Always use scrim, unless you need to get some special effects like sunburst.
And of course, practice, practice, practice.
Good luck!
PS. Please free to PM me if you have the specific questions. I would be happy to help.

[Teddynator0]

Absolute stunning quality pictures!


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[Burlington]

Awesome photos !

Macro shots are my favourite too.


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[Burlington]

Non Rolex, but hope it’s ok to share a few too:














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[SG56]

Originally Posted by Why-Not

Taking pictures of the shiny objects can be challenging.
Here are some tips I can share from my own experience.
Clean up a watch the best way you can. When it is possible, wash it before the shooting.
Wear soft gloves when shooting highly polished surfaces.
The second-best cleaning tool is Photoshop. Use it to get rid of the remaining dust spots.
Always use a tripod.
Play with the aperture to get the desired depth of field.
Use natural light as much as possible.
Always use scrim, unless you need to get some special effects like sunburst.
And of course, practice, practice, practice.
Good luck!
PS. Please free to PM me if you have the specific questions. I would be happy to help.

Gorgeous shots everyone!

Thank you for the tips :) I'll try it out next time!!!

Yeahhhh, dust... :D

[Burlington]

Really like the black background contrast shots. Great way to add drama to the pic


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[sutats]

Originally Posted by Why-Not

Taking pictures of the shiny objects can be challenging.
Here are some tips I can share from my own experience.
Clean up a watch the best way you can. When it is possible, wash it before the shooting.
Wear soft gloves when shooting highly polished surfaces.
The second-best cleaning tool is Photoshop. Use it to get rid of the remaining dust spots.
Always use a tripod.
Play with the aperture to get the desired depth of field.
Use natural light as much as possible.
Always use scrim, unless you need to get some special effects like sunburst.
And of course, practice, practice, practice.
Good luck!
PS. Please free to PM me if you have the specific questions. I would be happy to help.

Terrific pics and thanks for the advice and help.

Great shots everyone. Thank you all for sharing them.

Dirty like the way I like my

[NimbleNavigator]

How do you zoom in so much?

[Burlington]

Originally Posted by NimbleNavigator

How do you zoom in so much?

With a macro lens it can focus closer to the subject for these types of photos

[Mucci]

Very nice photos. Thanks for sharing