Watches are a very difficult subject to photograph. The small size and reflective surfaces that jewelry and watches often have will challenge even the best of photographers. Add into the mix, a mixture of textures and materials such as polished and brushed, and a difficult shot becomes infinitely more challenging.
That was my main objective of my latest Omega image. It’s a fairly simple looking watch, but the subtle differences in polished and brushed steel gives it a refined look. To achieve the final image, I combined over 10 exposures. I generally shoot a base image, which I feel is an all-around decent image in terms of overall lighting. From there, I will go through all of my images and focus on just one aspect of the watch (crown, dial, bracelet, etc) and choose an exposure that shows off that aspect the best.
And lastly, here is my setup. The lights that you can see in the background were simply Christmas lights that I hung in the back and then desaturated in post. I seem to have forgotten to get a behind the scenes photo of my setting them up.
Final Image
