Trying to get good at watch photography in preparation for selling off some of the collection, so my aim is for 'product shots' rather than artwork. This turns out to be a bit more difficult that I thought. With a bit of trial and error, the shots are at least clear using an iPhone 6 and a tripod to hold things still. However for 'product shots', the photos seem to make imperfections look much worse than they are in real life... This isn't too bad, except for some reflections in the glass. I found the crystal on these old watches to be quite troublesome, they are usually curved in all kinds of crazy ways, and it seems no matter what you do there is always some unwanted reflection.. you can see the compound curves of the crystal here... Maybe it is just tank-styles? With their straighter edges, they seem to reflect background in a more recognizable way. Below is an example of the photo making things look much worse than they are in real life. The scratch on the crystal is not really that noticeable. You can see it, but on a watch this old it is not what I would call a 'deal breaker', but the photo sure make it look bad. It seems all the imperfections are magnified in this particular shot. Any ideas why? I'm not trying to mislead potential buyers, but this is an obviously unflattering shot... Not much to comment on here, just part of the 'product' package of photos for the buyer Finally, the back using something called HDR enabled on the camera. It seems to produce multiple images for every shot. I cannot see any reason not to use this, as there is no extra effort involved. It does seem to make a difference. Anyone else using an iPhone to take pictures of watches they are selling? I'd love any advice or comments. I'm new to photography in general, and watch selling in general, having been a 'keeper' for the longest time.
Several good threads on using a light box to cut down on reflection. https://omegaforums.net/threads/light-boxes-and-photography-setup.32303 A few photographers on the forum as well; I believe @ICONO is a professional and can perhaps point you in the right direction.
If you used a light box for those shots, you need more and brighter light sources. Not knowing what HDR is and trying to get good at photography means you’ve done little research.
Can you help me understand the 'brighter' part of the comment? I think that there probably is uneven illumination; the light box was set in the sun that comes in during the afternoon, and my research tells me that is going to cause shadows and uneven lighting. Overall though, I would have thought that the camera, especially in HDR mode, would compensate for a given light level.
I use 4-5 light sources outside my light boxes to prevent high and low lights. HDR will tend to magnify high and low lights.