How can I get a pure white background for watch product photos with minimal editing?
Asked 1/18/2025
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2 answers
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I photograph watches for e-commerce and need to shoot large batches consistently. I’d like the background to look pure white straight out of camera, or with as little post-processing as possible. My current setup is a Nikon Z5 at ISO 125, f/13, 1/160 with three softboxes: two at 45° on the sides and one overhead. What changes to lighting, background placement, or shooting setup would help me achieve a cleaner white background without harming the watch exposure or creating glare/reflections?
Originally by Mike. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Mike
1y ago
2 Answers
6
The only way to achieve it without (much) post-production is to separate the product from the background (quite a lot) and illuminate the background with a stronger light.
The distance of the background from the product is due to two reasons:
- You can illuminate it, over-exposing it without compromising the main illumination of the product.
- You reduce the light cast on the product by the background.
As your products are small, you could try a setup where the product is floating against a wall, not a white floor. (I have tried to float objects on a glass, but you have double reflections on it). You could try using wires, for example.
Then the post-production will be only to remove the setup, for example, the wires.
Originally by Rafael. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Rafael
1y ago
0
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Camera settings alone won’t reliably make the background pure white. The key is lighting setup.
To get close in-camera, separate the watch from the background by a good distance, then light the background independently so it is slightly overexposed while you expose the watch correctly. That separation helps in two ways: it lets you brighten the background without blowing out the product, and it reduces light bouncing back from the background onto the watch.
For small products, a vertical background can work better than placing the watch directly on a white surface. Some shooters suspend the item or place it on glass, then light the background from behind or below, though glass can create extra reflections.
Be careful not to overlight the background so much that it causes glare or flare on the watch.
That said, if you need a truly pure white background consistently across hundreds of catalog images, some post-production is usually the standard solution. You can automate much of that workflow, but the cleanest capture still comes from exposing the subject normally and lighting the background separately to just over white.
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