how to take a quality wrist shot

[UB7]

Hey guys and gals, I am always seeing these killer wrist shots from members and always asking myself how do they do it? I usually just put my camera into super macro mode, put the camera on a flat surface and point and shoot but always get mediocre results...Are there any tips or tricks or techniques to taking a quality wrist shot?

[hyster]

Have you had a look here

[UB7]

Yes I have, but thanks for the link! I am capable of taking a pretty decent shot when the watch is stationary and off my wrist, but it never comes out good when I attempt a wrist shot

This is my best effort

[rodwc]

Do you have an anti shake setting and timer (2 sec.) on your camera?

These will certainly help you.

[freddy333]

I am far from being a professional & a number of other members have more skill/experience than I will ever have, but I think there are 3 components to taking great pictures -- (camera) stability, good (diffuse) lighting & compelling composition (as I was taught, you should learn the 'Rule of Thirds' & then learn how & when to break the rule).

The camera's megapixel rating relates to how large the photos can be sized before they begin to visibly pixelate (loose sharpness & edge clarity). For online work, I think 4mp is probably an acceptable minimum (for 1024x768 or smaller image sizes (measured in pixels or picture elements)). Beyond this, it is important to learn your camera's functions & as others have said practice, practice, practice & take lots of pictures. Most photographers will take dozens or hundreds of pictures to get that one shot that works.

No matter how steady you are, you will never be able to match the sharpness & focus of pictures taken with a (motionless) camera mounted on a stable surface or tripod, and under optimal lighting conditions (note that optimal is a variable).

Finally, you can hide alot of technical sins with provocative & compelling image compositions. This is more art than science & where talent comes into play. Some people are just able to compose objects within a rectangular space and/or mate them with other objects/colors/textures that seem to compliment & produce a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.

Using my own pictures as an example, I think this is a respectable picture of a watch

But I think this picture of the same watch is considerably more compelling than the 1st one, even though the quality is not as good (of course the pictures were intended to relay different information)

(Both pics taken with the same point-and-shoot camera)

[mikellem]

Nice work Freddy..

Very very true...

-MM

[hyster]

That sounds like great advice Freddy.

Thanks for that.

[freddy333]

Thanks all.

[Victoria]

Hey guys and gals, I am always seeing these killer wrist shots from members and always asking myself how do they do it? I usually just put my camera into super macro mode, put the camera on a flat surface and point and shoot but always get mediocre results...Are there any tips or tricks or techniques to taking a quality wrist shot?

Hey UB7.

You've received great advice already, but I'd like to ask what camera you use? I checked the Properties for EXIF data, but nothing.

I mentioned in a recent Wristcheck that my Sony Cybershot camera does all the work for me. Here is a review of the model I have, which has image stabilising, and a Carl Zeiss zoom lens:

http://www.416-1100.com/gallery/1074988

And here is a shot taken with that camera:

Did he use fancy techniques? No.

"The "bee on the flowers" image (DSC00041) was taken with the camera set to "Magnifying Glass" mode, which permits auto-focusing as close as 1.0 centimeter; For this image I was approximately 2cm from the bee. This camera is one of the best I have tested in the last 6 years."

Did he use Photoshop? No.

"These images have been captured with SONY's DSC-T9 camera, with no out-of-camera post image processing other than cropping, and no Photoshop work whatsoever. The Camera's internal settings generally are: Program mode with Sharpness and Saturation both turned up one tick for images to DSC00043; For images DSC00044 and over, the Saturation remains up one tick, the sharpness setting was set back to Normal, and all other settings in the camera are set to Automatic."

Not even a tripod.

Neither do I. Although I do play with the settings, this camera is very forgiving. As you can see, the macro is SUPERB. You point, shoot, and upload on RWG.

So that's in a nutshell my suggestion to you -- it might be you, but more than likely, it's your camera's limitations which prevent better shots.

(Love that shot of the horses and the PAM, though...)

[UB7]

I have an olympus 7.1 megapixel, still learning how to use it.Thanks for the advice freddy, sounds like I should get a tripod asap..and great pictures of a great watch!

[Pugwash]

If you have enough light, you can get away with anything you can throw at your camera.

Light can be traded for both time and stability. The less light you have, the more time or stability you need.

[UB7]

Having trouble getting a decent wrist shot but heres something I just captured

[freddy333]

I use a 4-5 year old Canon PowerShot A80 (4 megapixel) & Paint Shop Pro 10 (or Photoshop CS) for cropping & contrast adjustments.

[hiker01]

I have an olympus 7.1 megapixel, still learning how to use it.Thanks for the advice freddy, sounds like I should get a tripod asap..and great pictures of a great watch!

Which model? I have the 770SW and it sucks.....can't compare with a canon....I have both the Canon S70 and S1000 and these babies are great......Sometimes I also use my Nikon D70 DSLR, but I don't have the artistic skills of a lot of our members here. You could have the most expensive camera in the world, but if you dont have it.............

[Bjorn Morten]

1. Have both sharp and soft light-sources...

Sharp will do great for reflections/highlights on polished watch surfaces, while the smooth light will give nice ambience.

2. Put the cam on a tripod or a steady surface.

3. ISO 100 unless you want grainy pics.

4. Find the right Whitebalance (Check your cam's manual)

5. Select one-point focus, so that your autofocus does not switch over to a bad focuspoint.

6. Have a nice arm/wrist and choose a jumper/shirt/suit that picks up some of the colors of the watch/dials/numbering/etc!

7. Avoid clutter in the background (Ie. unpaid bills, socks, filthy apartment etc.)

8. No flash!! Unless you can move/position it away from the camera or towards the roof.

9. Decide if you want to have the background come out as blurry or sharp!! (good example: http://www.cameratown.com/guides/assets/ap...comparison.jpg)

Regards BM

Edited April 7, 2009 by Bjorn Morten

[jchurch]

I am still working on getting good wrist shots down also. I found different lenses work better than others.

This was with the canon digital rebel (several years old) with my 24-70mm

This was also shot with the same digital rebel same 24-70mm lens but I wasn't able to get anything better.

I started using the canon 40D more because I was sending the rebel in for IR coversion and was able to get some different ones.

Canon 40D shot with the 10-20mm lens

Sometimes a point a shoot works better...

Canon A640

Some of the problem I have with taking them is my big lens sticking out from my face and my arm not being really long so minimum focus distance comes in to play lol. I just keep taking more and more of them and eventually I will come across something that works.

Shot with palmpro (mobile phone)

[projectologist]

If you have enough light, you can get away with anything you can throw at your camera.

Light can be traded for both time and stability. The less light you have, the more time or stability you need.

You hit the nail on the head. Plenty of indirect but strong light in my driveway (light reflective concrete plus an off-white garage door). Inexpensive Canon PowerShot SD 790.