Category 5 Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Even anti glare crystals like the PO have some glare...so I experimented with an idea tonight. Instead of setting up a light tent, these pics were taken with a Canon Pro 1 (point and shoot) with a 420ex flash mounted on top. the flash was bounced off the left wall. To eliminate the glare off the crystal I just held a black folder (the same as the one the watches are sitting on) above the watches until all reflections disappeared. in other words there is only one reflection in the crystal...that of the black folder. It worked a treat. I think these are great considering how simple the setup was. The Omega Planet Ocean (courtesy of Trusty) My TAG Aquaracer (Quartz, but a schweet lookin' watch - one of my Favs!) And just for fun, the wonderful ETA movement in the PO. Too bad it never gets seen. No wonder there are so many non-dive watches with exhibition backs! So even with a light tent setup, covering the roof of the tent with black felt will reflect only black on the crystal...making it seem to disappear completely. Good luck with yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pubus Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 great idea this will be a great advice for everybody who could not do that!! Cheers, Kuba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leitztozeiss Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 That's a useful tip. A polarizing filter would be helpful also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vric Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 (edited) Just get yourself a Polarizer for your camera and problem is gone. (and using that, you won't loose the Omega logo on your watch pics ) Edited June 14, 2006 by vric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwai02 Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 It's not a good idea to use flash imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vric Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 It's not a good idea to use flash imo. bounced flash can be useful.. Light is much better, but sometime it's simply impossible. Direct flash is the worst mistake someone can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMK000 Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Nice trick. Though this brings a question in to my mind. Obviously with this trick the watch on the pic looks much better. If the dealers / manufacturers use the same trick for advertising / selling the watch , then the question is how "bright" (or with how much glare) the watch looks on your wrist under a naked eye??? If (naked eye) it looks like the pic with the glared removed , then great and everythinng is OK. But If it doesnt and it does look close to the one with the glare on , then there is a problem. You a see a pic of the watch, you say great watch , you order it and then you get a watch with a crystal similar to a "mirror". That kills the entire "look" of the watch. I personally believe that dealers should post pics that represent the watch as it appers under a naked eye. They should not manipulated them to make them look better than the actual watch you receive. BTW: It happened to me twice in the past. @ Category5: Of course my above comments have nothing to do with you and yes .... I believe that your trick is very good and very usefull to all of us. Thanks AMK000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vric Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Nice trick. Though this brings a question in to my mind. Obviously with this trick the watch on the pic looks much better. If the dealers / manufacturers use the same trick for advertising / selling the watch , then the question is how "bright" (or with how much glare) the watch looks on your wrist under a naked eye??? If (naked eye) it looks like the pic with the glared removed , then great and everythinng is OK. But If it doesnt and it does look close to the one with the glare on , then there is a problem. You a see a pic of the watch, you say great watch , you order it and then you get a watch with a crystal similar to a "mirror". That kills the entire "look" of the watch. I personally believe that dealers should post pics that represent the watch as it appers under a naked eye. They should not manipulated them to make them look better than the actual watch you receive. BTW: It happened to me twice in the past. @ Category5: Of course my above comments have nothing to do with you and yes .... I believe that your trick is very good and very usefull to all of us. Thanks AMK000 Dealers are dealers... In watches, cars or anything, they always want to show their product at the best possible situation. You ask to revolution the world of product selling.. Just like all those magazine. If you want a date with the lady on the front page, basing your expectation on the picture, you might have a bad surprise when you get home with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Category 5 Posted June 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 I think the latest Tag carrera is a beautiful watch that is ruined by using a domed crystal without anti-reflective coating. You can get the hands and omega logo back by using a second light. ...but yes, on a black face like the PO, using a single flash there is the side effect of the anything silver turning black too. So far almost all of the pictures I see on this site have some glare...maybe with the exception of TTK, and maybe Pug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 To eliminate the glare off the crystal I just held a black folder (the same as the one the watches are sitting on) above the watches until all reflections disappeared. in other words there is only one reflection in the crystal...that of the black folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 So far almost all of the pictures I see on this site have some glare...maybe with the exception of TTK, and maybe Pug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Category 5 Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 That's a great trick, but it should be just one of many tricks in your goodie bag. This shot was taken using a dark green reflector and a polarising filter. Oh, and three light sources and a curved mirror ... and finally run through photoshop with noise ninja and a few other tricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groobash Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 That's really nice Pug. Your photos are always great. I bet you could even make me look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 That's really nice Pug. Your photos are always great. I bet you could even make me look good. If you look like Brian "nurse-molester" Peppers, I could only make you look good if you had great [censored]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornerstone Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TTK Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 (edited) Here you go.......1x light source.......1x polarising filter.......no Photoshop.......no washing out of detail.......and disappearing crystals.......even on the multi-facted Tarawa sapphire.......! but if you want reflections without loss of detail.....here you go....! @Puggy.....'caught out'.......! Edited June 15, 2006 by TTK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMK000 Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 @ Captain (TTK): If you ever get the "EBEL Tarawa" as per our pics ,...... I will be all over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Category 5 Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 As evidenced above...TTK and Pug are the resident watch photography champs so far. ...but every day us laymen are getting better and better. I just might go out and get some daylight bulbs and try one of those light tent configs tonight. What makes things worse for me...I am a photographer for a living! (People though...not watches) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 @Puggy.....'caught out'.......! Like I said, I assumed it was deliberate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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