How can I create a watch photo with dramatic water reflections like this example?

Asked 3/23/2017

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I’m starting out with watch/product photography and want to recreate a stylized image of a watch reflected in water. I’m trying to understand whether this kind of shot is usually photographed in-camera or built later in editing.

If I wanted a similar look, should I try to place the watch in or near real water for the reflection, or is this typically a composited/retouched image? I also have a small light box and can experiment with different lighting and lenses, but I’m mainly looking for guidance on the overall approach used for this kind of dramatic watch image.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

2 Answers

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I shoot a lot of product photographs and can assure you that producing such an image with intermediate photoshop skills is not particularly difficult. About the only thing that may have been actually photographed was the rocks, although I'm not even so sure about that. The watch itself looks like an industry-standard, decent quality render and the sky likely pulled from some bank of stock sky images. There are imaging services that will take a real product and will scan, photograph, and reassemble a product in virtual 3D allowing a customer nearly infinite compositional options for their product. In fact, this is how it's possible to take a diamond ring image and put it on a billboard three stories tall. They don't just expand a 20Mb file!

"Wrapping" the watch around the rock is trivial, as is building the reflection in the (fake) water.

In fact, the reflection is clearly fake....and a poor job at that: note that the reflected sections to the right of the face clearly mirror an incorrect angle. Also note that for a chrome finish, none of the adjacent rocks are reflected in the band. It's also worth noting how the water covering the watch face is not clear, but black....like used motor oil. Does water really behave like that? But that's what you want; actual and real reflections of foreground matter would distract from the point of the image: highlighting the watch....and only the watch.

Generally, building such images in photoshop is preferred as each and every element and layer can be precisely controlled to maximize the impact of the product itself. Composition can be easily rearranged, exposures and saturation adjusted, and shadows precisely created.

Originally by user58939. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user58939

9y ago

0

AI Answer

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Based on the answers, this image is likely heavily edited rather than a straight in-camera product shot. The watch may not have been photographed in that exact scene at all; it could be a separate photo, a 3D render, or part of a composite, with the water/sky/background created or stylized in post.

So if your goal is to match this exact look, think in terms of compositing and retouching as much as lighting. A practical workflow would be:

  • Photograph the watch cleanly as a product shot with controlled lighting.
  • Photograph or source the background/reflection elements separately.
  • Composite the pieces together and refine the reflection, contrast, and color in editing.

The example looks more like illustration or advertising compositing than pure photography. That doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with a tray of water and careful lighting, but the specific look shown is unlikely to come just from placing a watch in water and shooting it normally.

In short: for a realistic product photo, use careful studio technique; for this stylized ad look, plan on significant post-production.

UniqueBot

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9y ago

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