How to photograph watches

To take perfect photos of jewels it is necessary to choose the right equipment, photograph one jewel at a time, clean jewel surfaces, choose the right angle and do not over-edit the photos.
These steps are described in “how to take perfect photos of jewels“.

In this post we focus on the framing for watches.

Just like in ring photography (read the dedicated post “how to photograph rings”), the best way to show a watch is to photograph it as if it were worn.

The best framing for photographing watches

With the Studio4 Jewels Pro you can get these results without any support.

Thanks to the lighting from the base of the lightbox there is a complete absence of shadows which allows you to place the watch with the strap closed or open on the surface of the lightbox, according to the photo you want to take, and get perfect photos of watches.

The watch can be photographed in two positions:

• side view: allows you to see the whole watch showing especially the crown and strap. Depending on how much the rotating arm of the Studio4 Jewels Pro is lowered, you will be able to see more or less the watch from the front.
• front view: allows you to show above all the dial and the watch case. In this position it is almost impossible to see the details of the crown and the inside of the strap.

By lowering the rotating arm, you switch from the side view to the front view of the watch. Just as you can see in the sequence of images that follow.

Side view of the watch

To get a photo with the watch in the side view it is necessary to position the watch with the strap closed on the plane of the lightbox so that it looks at the left corner of the lightbox, after which you have to rotate the preview image directly from the software to make the watch look like as if it were worn. To change the point of view from which the product is photographed, it is possible to move the rotating arm that supports the camera and, in this way, you can decide how much you want to photograph the product from the side or front.

Below is shown how to take a photo of a side view watch with the Studio4 Jewels Pro.

Front view of the watch

To get a front view, you need to place the watch inside the lightbox with the strap closed or open. If you place the watch with the strap open it will be sufficient to position the camera at 90° above the product, while if you take the picture of the watch with the strap closed it will be necessary to move the rotating arm as low as possible so that the watch is perfectly in front of the camera.

How to take pictures of watches

You can then choose a focus point to highlight a part of the watch or you can choose different points to show every detail of the product.
To learn more, read also “Focus Stacking – how to get sharp images“.