How To Post Photos Of Your Watches Here

[Pugwash]

This article is in four sections

1. Introduction
   
2. How to take pictures
   
3. How to get the pictures from your camera to your computer
   
4. How to get the pictures from your computer to the forum
   

1: Introduction and glossary

This article assumes several points, like that you're using Windows (and have Picasa) or MacOSX (and have iPhoto), you have a digital camera and its cables and manual and that you have an internet connection. Oh, and a watch you want to photograph. We are going to use the term download for getting the picture off the camera and upload for putting the picture on the internet.

At no point in this article will you see the term 'scans' used for pictures. Rather than go into detail, just take it as read that a scan is not a photo, contrary to what some forums will tell you. Out of courtesy to your fellow photographers, I would request that we all stop using this term for digital photographs.

Light Tent: You'll see these referred to all the time, and all they are are cloth boxes that you put lights outside of and objects to be photographed inside of. They can be professional-quality (under $30 on eBay) or home-brew (pillowcase or plastic binder.

I don't recommend storing cats in your light tent as their hairs get everywhere. Your cat, however, may have a different idea.

1. 
   The basic procedure
   
2. Light the watch and set up the camera
   
3. photograph your watch
   
4. Download the photo from the Camera
   
5. Treat the photo in software and export it at a web size
   
6. Upload the photo to the internet
   
7. Post the photo on the forums of your choice
   

If you have any questions about this article, or photography in general, please don't PM me directly. Reply to this article if it's about issues this article raises, or post a help request in the appropriate place as if you have an issue, or need advice, you will not be the only one and your question may help hundreds of others that then don't need to ask. Also, there are other experts that can weigh in on their areas of expertise. I'd rather answer ten questions once than answer one question ten times.

Every photographer has about 1000 lousy photographs in them. It's best to get them out of your system as soon as possible. The more you practice, the luckier you'll get.

2: How to photograph watches.

This is a highly condensed version of my photographic articles. For a more in-depth process, please refer to them. They are linked at the very bottom of this post.

1. 
   Here's a checklist of how to take a picture the Pugwash way
   
2. Clean the watch
   
3. Light the scene
   
4. Set the camera's white balance
   
5. Make sure everything is in focus and framed
   
6. Stabilise the camera
   
7. Turn on the timer
   
8. Press the button
   
9. Stand well back
   
10. click
    

Cleaning the watch should go without saying, but I've caught myself forgetting it too many times and wondering why there is a huge thumbprint on the watch too many times. A lens cloth is an excellent choice here, and some dealers even supply replicas with cloths.

Ideally, you'll want a light tent and a tripod, as lighting watches is hard. If you have to use a flash, don't bother taking a photo. Re-illuminate the subject and try again as using a flash ruins watch photos. Trust me on this one.

White Balance is explained in the third part of my article, but your best bet is to look in your camera's manual to see how this varies for your exact camera.

Focus is very important. Initially, you should set your camera to Centre AF (see your manual again) and learn whether or not you need to use Macro mode to get the scene in focus.

A stable camera needs no flash. Expensive tripods are ideal, but there are several cheaper options involving balancing the camera on books or using a cheap desk-tripod.

The Self-Timer (see your camera's manual) is the easiest trick you can use for extra stability. Set it up, press the button and stand back. Your not touching the camera when it's taking the picture allows you to get away with murder.

You should now have a picture in the camera, but before we go to the next step, try changing the settings, like the aperture and exposure and take a couple more shots, just to see what it looks like. Digital cameras allow you to take as many photos you want and see the results instantly, so you should play about with your settings to familiarise yourself with your equipment.

3: How to download the pictures.

If you're on a PC, use Picasa. If you're on a Mac, use iPhoto. The software that came with your camera is rubbish, no matter how expensive the camera.

1. 
   Downloading from the camera
   
2. Connect the Camera to the computer
   
3. Download the photos from the camera
   
4. Fix and crop the images
   
5. Reduce the image to 640px wide and export
   

To connect the camera to the computer, there are two ways. The first and simplest is to get the USB cable that came with the camera, plug it into the camera and the computer and turn on the camera. If your camera is not the latest and greatest, however, it may be USB1, meaning that it's rather slow. The second method is a lot quicker and doesn't chew through your camera's battery. Get a camera card reader; they're rather cheap and do the job very well. You take the card out of the camera, pop it into the reader and get the pictures that way. You may find that it's significantly faster than what you're used to.

In Picasa or iPhoto, these applications offer themselves up as default choice for when you connect a camera. This is an excellent idea and gets you into the habit of always using the right software. I set the software to download and delete, as I know that I'll not be needing the pictures anywhere outside of iPhoto.

Fixing the images is too long for this article, so I'll refer you to my Picasa tutorial that explains all the basics. If you don't want to read it, you can just fix the lighting levels and the temperature and crop the image to a good composition. Some people will use Photoshop at this stage, and I myself do so for some pictures, but for the basics it's total and utter overkill, and quite simply the wrong tool for the job. You don't get the Ferrari out to go to the local shops when the Nissan Micra is more convenient.

Exporting the picture at the right size is possibly the most important step of using the software, as a slightly too warm or too dark a picture isn't as bad as a three-thousand pixel-wide monster that even those of us in 24" widescreen HD monitors need to scroll across to see parts of. Nobody needs pictures wider than 640 pixels.

4: How to upload the pictures

If you have free webspace and it doesn't compromise your anonimity, this is the best option. Otherwise, photobucket et al. provide an acceptable, if lesser quality, service.

1. 
   Getting the photos from your PC to the forums
   
2. Upload the picture
   
3. get the URL of the picture
   
4. Use the tags and the URL to make a perfect post
   

The best way of putting photographs on the internet is without a doubt to use a dedicated hosting solution, but this is costly. You are usually much better off using the free webspace your Internet Service Provider gives you. If you don't have any free webspace or you don't want to lose your anonymity, an understandable concern on a contraband goods forum like this one, then you can use something like photobucket or ImageShack.

I'm going to use ImageShack for this how-to, as if you have some webspace, you'll have ISP-specific instructions that I have no way of knowing.

Go to http://imageshack.us/

Click on "Choose File"

Choose a file

Click on "Host It"

Copy the link from the bottom line of code, marked in blue below. Ignore the rest. Seriously, they're of no help to us.

Check the URL you have is good

Then, take the URL, and in a post, put IMG tags around it as follows:

[img=http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/4476/subwp3640zs3.jpg]

Preview your message and you'll see a perfectly-sized image embedded in the post. If you want multiple pictures, repeat this procedure but don't forget to have each image on their own separate line. If you don't put returns in, you're going to make a mess.

[artoero]

thanks, your the master!!!

[mikellem]

Thanks Pugs, Another fabulous contribution to us photo newbies...

Cheers.

MM

[Usil]

Pugs,

You posted that at 3:30 am. Do you ever sleep?

Usil

[MAHLER]

I had a replica of this cat

[MAHLER]

Nice...

Edited July 23, 2006 by MAHLER

[Pugwash]

Nice...

Yes, I don't just photograph watches.

You posted that at 3:30 am. Do you ever sleep?

Sleep? I've heard of that ...

[Pugwash]

So, no further comments or questions?

[jonthebhoy]

Nope, everyone's as happy as a sandboy.

JTB

[Pugwash]

For those who may have missed it, I made a video on how to Photoshop a shot to look like the one in this article. It's available here: Pugwash's Photoshop Video

A sample screenshot:

[By-Tor]

I got a few pm's of new members who wanted to know how to post pictures to the forum.

I think it's about time to bump this excellent tutorial.

[archibald]

Thanks...let's se if image shack works:

[url=http://imageshack.us][/url

[archibald]

it works better erasing the part of the code that contains their URL, a little advertising on their part I bet....

just cut and paste this part: [Xmg]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2419/29auf1.jpg

[JimmyT]

I'm going to use ImageShack for this how-to, as if you have some webspace, you'll have ISP-specific instructions that I have no way of knowing.

Go to http://imageshack.us/

Click on "Choose File"

Choose a file

Click on "Host It"

Copy the link from the bottom line of code, marked in blue below. Ignore the rest. Seriously, they're of no help to us.

Check the URL you have is good

Then, take the URL, and in a post, put IMG tags around it as follows:

[img=http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/4476/subwp3640zs3.jpg]

Preview your message and you'll see a perfectly-sized image embedded in the post. If you want multiple pictures, repeat this procedure but don't forget to have each image on their own separate line. If you don't put returns in, you're going to make a mess.

[Toadtorrent]

Hi Jim,

It looks like you're still embedding the images instead of linking to them.

In RWG's Reply or New Post window you get:

Click on the insert image button:

Copy and paste from Imageshack, Photobucket, or whatever, the direct link to the image in the popup window (allow popups):

Or...type the url to the image in directly framing it in the html "" tags:

Preview to make sure you get what you want and you should be good to go. If you view the properties of the images you uploaded in this post or the others, you'll notice the url is still to RWG which means the image that it's using is on the RWG database...you want to NOT upload the image to RWG...but link to it to wherever you're hosting the image.

Right-click (or whatever the Mac equivalent is) and view the properties of your images vs. mine in this post. You'll notice my image is actually on Photobucket.

[JimmyT]

Thanks T.Torrent,

I have to duck out for a while but I'll nail this today if it kills me.

I feel like a participant in "Amateur Hour" but this one I just can't get.But I must say you've done a great job explaining it.

I hate bothering you guys and really appreciate the nudges you've all given us new kids on the block.

Fingers crossed,

Jim

[Toadtorrent]

Thanks T.Torrent,

I have to duck out for a while but I'll nail this today if it kills me.

I feel like a participant in "Amateur Hour" but this one I just can't get.But I must say you've done a great job explaining it.

I hate bothering you guys and really appreciate the nudges you've all given us new kids on the block.

Good job as I saw in your other post you did it.

As your second task grasshopper...you don't have to catch flies with a chopstick, or shoot the wings off of flies either...but when you reply to posts, the system automatically adds in all the pictures and text from the post your replying to as a "QUOTE". Strip out the pics and some of the text to make your post "cleaner". Obviously keep them in if you are asking additionally questions or highlighting a point and want to reference the pic.

The thread gets messy when the same pictures (especially a series) are repeated multiple times.

[JimmyT]

Good job as I saw in your other post you did it.

As your second task grasshopper...you don't have to catch flies with a chopstick, or shoot the wings off of flies either...but when you reply to posts, the system automatically adds in all the pictures and text from the post your replying to as a "QUOTE". Strip out the pics and some of the text to make your post "cleaner". Obviously keep them in if you are asking additionally questions or highlighting a point and want to reference the pic.

The thread gets messy when the same pictures (especially a series) are repeated multiple times.

Yeah I know TTorrent,

I just got carried away a bit ...kid in a candy store thing.

I intend to just precis them down like you guys from now on in & cut out all the rambling.

And all the visuals except when I maybe need to show something like a new buy etc.

For now Master T I'll stick to "Wax on, Wax off"

Hey man you've really been a mentor to this new boy in the neighborhood - so has By-Tor. Thanks a ton.

cheers

Jim

Edited October 3, 2008 by JimmyT

[Toadtorrent]

Hey man you've really been a mentor to this new boy in the neighborhood - so has By-Tor. Thanks a ton.

Just doing what others have done to me. The board has been good that way...much more congenial than any other I've been on.

As you start buying and realize how much you've saved to get great quality...gain lots of knowledge, etc...think about upgrading your membership to make sure the board is still around when you need a "horological" fix.

I actually was inspired to upgrade back when I first read an interview on master Watchmaker The Zigmeister found Here. I don't know what it was...but was inspired at the caliber of people found on this forum...but enough of this...don't want to thread crap.

[JimmyT]

Just doing what others have done to me. The board has been good that way...much more congenial than any other I've been on.

As you start buying and realize how much you've saved to get great quality...gain lots of knowledge, etc...think about upgrading your membership to make sure the board is still around when you need a "horological" fix.

I actually was inspired to upgrade back when I first read an interview on master Watchmaker The Zigmeister found Here. I don't know what it was...but was inspired at the caliber of people found on this forum...but enough of this...don't want to thread crap.

Believeme TT it's not crap at all. that last thread you posted is it - that's what it's all about as far as I can see it, guys like you explaining to mugs like me why, what, how the forum works. etc.

As a mater of fact I've been thinking of upgrading to support the Forum as it has supported me even though I'm only about 2 weeks "young" here.

It's well run, a plethora of info and plain and simply nice pleasant like-minded people who help each other.

I think it's great and will be hanging around in here probably a good deal more than my marriage can bear !!!

Quote...." Jim, wher are you? looking at those watches again" only joking but she does say it but knows it's harmless.

She thought that when I bought my Gen Seamaster 2254 last year that would be it BUT...... you know the rest.

I'm prattling again. Thanks for the tips etc and you'll see me sniffing around this place often.

Late here, have to work tomorrow. Have a good one Mr T

cheers

JT

[Pugwash]

Right-click (or whatever the Mac equivalent is)

It's a right-click on the Mac (control-click on laptops, or multi-tap the trackpad, or click and hold ... etc.) as well.

[devnull]

Thanks!