Over the last week or so I've been thinking about black and white photography and have got a couple ideas of what I want to try...with no idea on how to make what I want to do actually happen. That rarely stops me from having a go however so I thought I'd twiddle some knobs and dials on the camera in manual mode and see what happened; a voyage of discovery so to speak. I decided to take a stab at some black and white photos of a couple of my watches.
Below are a few shots I thought were ok, many were not, and that I felt would be suitable to share. I figure I'll explain what I did here with the camera so that all you technical...ah bugger it, I have no bloody idea what I did, I simply twiddled some knobs and dials in manual mode and pressed the shutter-release button.
I used my lightbox with the white background for these shots and changed the colour-tone of the LED light-ring in the top of the lightbox a little, warmed it up and cooled it down, and as I knob-twiddled I hoped I was capturing something worth looking at. I'm not sure I did, but the above shots are some of the resulting images regardless of being good or bad.
Feel free to comment if you'd like to and if not, and you're actually reading this, *thanks for coming by and taking a look.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
[Original and AI free]
Every image in this post is my own.
Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III was used to capture these images.
I liked the photographs of the watches in black and white, I recently read that taking photographs in this mode allows the person to concentrate on the details, as there is no distraction of strong colours and tones.
And the details that can be seen on the watches in these photographs are simply elegant.
Thanks for sharing, cheers!
Thank you and yeah I think it allows greater clarity, the removal of colour. The human brain thinks in pictures and in colour so the removal of it makes the brain work a little harder I guess.
Thanks for your comment.
Ouff! That's one clean-lookin Breitling. 😏
It's legit...not my favourite though, that one is not pictured although in my last watch post it was.
Are you talking about the Rolex? 🤔
I just got this rare pre-owned Seiko 5 from Japan, an advance birthday gift to myself. It's one fineee piece. Even though I have better and more "pricey" watches in my little collection, this little Seiko is slowly becoming one of my favorites.
Nice Seiko...great watches really, I have had a few and feel they're as good as any other and better than most. ✅
Yeah, my Rolex is my favourite more for the meaning of it, than from an actual watch perspective. The watch I wear the most is my Casio Mudmaster though, I wear that every day.
I like Seiko, especially the Seiko 5 lineup. I don't know how they managed to make such beautiful mechanical watches and then sell them for a price of $100 to $200. That's bonkers, I'd say.
It's more like a statement piece, right? Most of us buy such watches to mark a moment or point of accomplishment, by getting something that exhibits a feeling of success.
My Casio Enticer is my daily. Along with a vintage Casio, the little digital ones. Nothing beats a Casio when it comes to daily watches.
I don't buy special watches every day if the week, each I have marks a significant moment and that's where the meaning comes into it I guess. The cost if it doesn't make it special. I think you understand well.
Without a doubt! I do understand.
I kinda felt the same way when I got my Tissot PRX a few months ago; after securing a new gig. These watches are like little gifts to myself, after I've worked hard for something; which in my eyes deserves a little reward.
I kinda love black & white forest.. but also only have a few pictures..
It is kinda hard.. especially with my shitty old smartphone camera^^
but modern possibilities of editing also provide good tools
and if I get a good shot, it mostly ends up just very very lovely :3
for your watches: I'd probably also like some black & white wood with nice grain as background.. :3
I don't edit my photos, I cannot be bothered wasting time...life is imperfect (perfection does not exist in real life and I like to represent my images that way also, they are, after all, slices of moments from real life.
Also very true
Them light boxes are marvelous things, great pics man. Stark and precise and dare I say it, a wee bit arty! 😀
Arty...that's what I was going for man. Ok, seriously now, I was just hoping not to produce completely fucked up shit...I think I came close to not fucking it up too...Maybe next time. 😉
Ach, you never produce fucked up shit... Unless it's deliberate fucked up shit!
Fucking deliberately is the best.
It's a family motto!
It's a family motto!
Those are really good shots. The fourth one is something that I can see in a magazine. It's amazing how lighting can make so much difference. The two photos of the Breitling initially looked like two different watches from their color/sheen.
I also did find your choice of watches interesting. They were either a simple watch with nothing much on the face, or it has 3 small dials.
Thank you, I appreciate your kind remarks and agree with you on the lighting thing, it's so important to get it right. Someday I'll actually learn how to do it better than I do...I just sort of bumble along hoping to get it right at the moment.
I've got many watches, it was somewhat of a hobby to collect them in years past, they're all quite different, but they all reflect who I am as a person.
I love the pictures! They look very fancy! Also, great brands you choose!
Thank you, I appreciate you taking a look and the time to comment.
My favourites 1 and 3! No idea what you did? Geniuses with the camera, from the attempts come out very good things, like these.
I especially loved those two. The light is dim, so you can see the shades of grey, rather than the black well highlighted. A beautiful and delicate style.
Beautiful watches Galen, very nice!
This was great!🤣
1 and 3 are good choices, I like them too. I played around with the lighting and tried to shoot something interesting so I'm glad you like the photos.
wow you have a lot of watches. I don't even have one. by the way nice photos of the watches~
Yeah, several others too. I'm 157 years old so have had a lot of time to collect them. 🙂
haha ya maybe 157 watches xD. i had some when i was younger but i think thats cuz i didnt have a phone now i can just use my phone to see the time
Hahaha, you're definitely cool.
I think then it's about you having a good eye and good taste, among so many things.
A good eye for things helps and, probably more relevant to me, is that I'm happy to try something and fail; it teaches me things.
What good taste you have
the black and white shot gave it more elegance
Thank you, a kind and nice thing for you to say.
I like the black and white shots, it removes the distraction of colour and allows light and shade to take the stage.
A watch man, my style for sure! I didn’t think I would like the leather band ones but then I got one and it’s the one I actually wear most often strangely enough haha. I do love a nice watch though! Since I work from home though I don’t get to wear them like I used to, for the annoyance of having to take them off all the time lol.
Some cool pictures though, I like the color style. It is black and white but the reverse black and white than what most people would associate it with. Pretty cool man!
I played around with the lighting a little, warmed it up or cooled it down in the hope of getting some different tones of black and white so all the photos didn't look the same. I'm not sure how successful I was, but it is what it is. I'm not professional so don't have to answer to anyone I suppose.
That Mercedes watch, the last one with the leather band, I bought that in Milan, Italy. I saw it there and just fell for the simplicity. It has a nice blue face that catches the light as the arm moves and it's pretty understated.
Well, let me guess technically. You have some photos with the aperture wide open, so you have almost no depth of field and it gets blurry behind.
In this one you have a higher diaphragm value because you see more depth.
I'm pretty sure you used higher shutter speeds for the larger aperture. On the other hand, in that one I pointed out, you had to lower the shutter speed a bit.
(For the record, I know nothing about photography.)
I don't know what all that means...I just twiddle knobs, dials and buttons. 😏
😑 Forget about it.
They are very nice and you do very well to use the light box. It's a little tricky because of the reflections, but if you use that to your advantage, as you have done, you get very good results.
👏
I struggle with the light-ring to be honest, a lot of the time I turn it off and shoot without it, or use a different light source. It has its uses though.
Thanks for your favourable comments, coming from a photographer like you it means something.
Those are some nice watches. I've always wanted a nice watch, but I am so clumsy I am sure I would scratch it all up, so why spend the money... Here's my big question though. Do you feel there is something more impactful between a shot that was taken natively in black and white versus one that was converted after the fact and can you tell the difference between the two?
Thanks mate, I've got some others as featured in another watch photography post I did a month or so ago also. Mostly they sit in my watch winder going round and round, I don't generally wear them these days, all except for my Casio Mudmaster of course, that's a daily-wearer.
Great question about the black and white thing. Firstly no, I do not think I'd be able to tell the difference between one converted from colour and one taken in black and white - I just don't know enough about photography for that. As for being more or less impactful...again, I'm not sure although the photographer looking through the viewfinder and seeing black and white may construct the image differently, look for different angles and light which would probably change or improve the shot. I think sometimes all the colours can mask the true image when we look, sort of like making the light and depth play second fiddle to the pretty colours.
In truth, I have no clue because I'm a photography nutbag, and in general too I guees.
That is cool about the watches. Fair enough about the photos. I know it was kind of an odd question. It's just something I occasionally think about. Having mostly used black and white film growing up, I have an affinity for it. I think it allows you to focus on the subject more than color since there is less going on.
I love black and white, it's a striking way to present a different perspective...I grew up with it too, I think I'm older than you, although if we're asked let's just say we're both 32.
32 sounds good to me! I don't remember a lot of my 30's, but I think they were pretty good :)
Haha, let's roll with 32 then, maybe we'll both make better choice! (I'm actually content with those I made...but maybe there's room for improvement.)
Same!
Looks like it's fancy time. Or at least timepieces. Most of my lightbox experiments result in similarly ambiguous feelings towards the results, wonder if that's part of the fun of using a lightbox?
Hey man, good to hear from you.
Well here's the thing, you know how to take photos properly, I stumble along and sometimes get lucky...but I enjoy working with the lightbox and want to build my own bigger one. That which I use is a cheap fold-down one I was given as a gift. I've made it work though, now and then, in my fumbling, stumbling, knob-twiddling manner.
One of these days I'll figure out how to balance the online and offline worlds but for now it's just good to be talking at you again :)
Methinks you give me too much credit and yourself not enough. Shooting with a lightbox or in a studio has never been my thing, I just sort of fiddle around it much like you. Let me know how it goes when you build you one, I built my lightbox, a cardboard and cheesecloth affair, and I've never been able to tell if I'm doing something wrong shooting or if there's something wrong with the lightbox build. So mostly I just fuck around with in once in a while in that fumbling, stumbling, knob-twiddling manner.
I was thinking of making it from coreflute and using the pattern of the one I have as a template - it opens up flat then folds together. That way I just need to double up the measurements and I'm left with one twice the size. That's the plan anyway. It won't be foldable as I'll glue/tape it together for structural integrity, but it will allow me to get larger items in there so I can fumble, bumble and knob-twiddle on a larger scale.
I'm the fan #1 of your watch collection.
It's just impossible not to fall in love with such beauties.
Is the latest one, a Mercedes Benz watch? (That's my favorite Scuderia in F1, which is why it caught my attention.)
I wish I had that skill of not knowing what I'm doing and still taking such great photos 😂. It's always marvelous to see your watch collection. It's incredible!
Thanks man, it's not all of my collection, just some. It's a bit shameful, considering my comment to your last reply about the salad thing.
Yes, a Mercedes watch I bought in Milan, Italy when I was there. I don't wear it these days, but it's a nice understated watch and I used to wear it to work a lot. It sent the right message.
Not feel like that, mate. On the contrary, I personally love watches, and I hope to have a similar collection someday and seeing your posts motivates me to improve and work harder, both: on Hive and in the offline world. Maybe if some internet influencer showed that, I would think they are boastful, but coming from you, I know you have achieved it from hard work and fighting every day, that motivates me 😁
Ferrari didn't like this comment 😅
I am sure, your whole collection (the part you show us) is incredible, you have very good taste.
👌🏻
Thanks mate, for saying what you did. No one here will ever know my life and what I've done by choice, had to endure and the setbacks I've had...I have approached it all in my way, that is, standing on my own two feet, working hard, showing ownership and discipline and standing back up when knocked over. It's who I am...but no one will really see it.
On the watch thing...shh,, don't tell Ferrari. Lol.
I actually toured the factory you know, and their museum...drove an F430 Spider around Modena for a while. I did a post on it back in the day, pictures and all. An amazing experience. (Went to Ducati and Lamborghini too, also posted about.) Maybe I'll do a new one at some stage, combining all three into a post.
I think it's a wise decision, mate. Privacy is super important, and it's something we're losing more and more every day. So, I totally share tour thought and decision.
When I read your message, mate, I died for a moment. You know I'm a huge car fan, but I was born in the wrong country 😂. But with hard work, I'll visit those factories too. In the meantime, I'm happy for you, but I gotta admit, I'm a little jelly in a good way 😅
It was a pretty cool thing to drive around the town in which the vehicle was made in, and what a vehicle it was. I'm more of a four wheel drive guy to be honest, but I love cars and appreciate a good one. I hope you get to take one for a spin one day.
If you scroll way, way, back on my feed you'll see the post I did on it and the others on various other elements of that trip... Lamborghini museum, Colezione Umberto Panini and Ducati.
Let’s pray 😅
I already have homework for when I get home , I will do it for sure 😉
The second pic with reflections of cgain of light is simply awesome...The best of all. It appears a ring of diamonds allover the place...shining and bright.
I like that one too, not one I'd normally take but I wanted to add that noise through the introduction of light into the image, the imperfection so to speak. I'm glad you like it.
With all these array of watches, I can see that you are a lover of watches. I hardly wear one since I have a mobile phone to check the time but yours are beautiful and the black and white shots gives them a certain appeal. Great shots!
I rarely go anywhere without a watch, usually my Casio Mudmaster which is not pictured here. I don't like having to take my mobile phone out to check the time, I find that annoying.
Thanks for commenting on the snaps though, I think they look good in black and white, the way the light and shadow works on them.
When I first glanced on the blog I thought the watches are same but when I saw patiently then I noticed that these are different. If I get a chance to take one of them then I will take the last one. Kidding 😂
You thought they were the same? Well, I'd say that would have made for a boring post so I added some variety.
When I'm dead they'll all be available I guess, you might get lucky.
It's beautiful photography, in the black and white side that you show, I really like the black and white photography side
Good shot guys.thank you very much for sharing with us
Thanks, I appreciate you taking a look and commenting. Have a nice day and end to the week.
These are amazing shots.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
You're welcome. I think I will get some old time pieces and try some black and white ... If I can find the 'time' to do it... :D
Do it for sure, it's worth having a shot at it...I mean, that's all I did. Fumbled my way through it.
Genial bro, particularmente siento atracción por los accesorios y los relojes son uno de ellos. Considero que agregar uno de esos elegantes modelos a un buen outfit daría un toque de sencillez y seriedad a la presencia masculina. Tus fotos me recordaron al videojuego de Gran turismo 7, estoy seguro que fue por la grandiosa forma en que jugaste con la iluminación de las fotos y las marcas en los relojes. Buenísimas fotos brother!
Sorry, I don't read Spanish, just English.
Sorry for that bro😥
Translation of DeepL.com :
Cool bro, I particularly feel attraction for accessories and watches are one of them. I thought that adding one of those elegant models to a good outfit would give a touch of simplicity and seriousness to the masculine presence. Your photos reminded me of the Gran turismo 7 videogame, I'm sure it was because of the great way you played with the lighting of the photos and the markings on the watches. Great photos brother!
Genial hermano, particularmente siento atracción por los accesorios y los relojes son uno de ellos. Considere que agregar uno de esos elegantes modelos a un buen outfit daría un toque de sencillez y seriedad a la presencia masculina. Tus fotos me recordaron al videojuego de Gran turismo 7, estoy seguro que fue por la grandiosa forma en que jugaste con la iluminación de las fotos y las marcas en los relojes. Buenas fotos hermano!
There's things that help a man stand out from the rest...Manners, courtesy and being a gentleman first and foremost. However, how one is dressed and groomed, how a man presents overall can be a huge factor.
Clean shoes, a belt, appropriate clothing for each occassion and a watch...just accessories, but ones that can help a man to stand out a little to those open to seeing it.
Many things combine I guess, but those first three I mention are the most import.
I don't know anything about Gran Turismo 7, I live my life in reality not video games, but I appreciate the comment...I tried to use the light to add depth, a layer of something different to what are simple shots of watches.