Getting a creative brief for a watch shoot can be very exciting, and perhaps a little daunting. Some of the best product photography in the world is of watches. This is down to the exceptionally large value that some brands charge for their watches. Rolex are the extreme example, running into the hundreds of thousands at the high end, so although there is a void in cost they set the benchmark for what good photography looks like. Breitling and Tag Heuer are good examples of brands that are selling watches for £2,000 – £8,000. No small amount of money so the creative has to be on point. Again this raises the bar for all watch manufacturers, and while we’ve never shot a watch worth more than £1000 we often get sent examples of shots from these brands. Luckily we like a challenge!

The Creative Vision

When it comes to Hero Product Photography their needs to be a vision, and we as your chosen Watch Photographer need to see it as clearly as you do. That’s where a great brief comes in! Describing the look and feel of the shot you want and giving us images references will go along way. We are very creative, but without a starting point we run the risk of going off piste. After understanding how you want the image to look the nuts and bolts are also useful; i.e. where is the shot going, crop ratio, print/web, is it on brand, and of course, when do you need it!

After some pre production it’s time to shoot! We will be focsued on making the watch shine. Beautiful clarity through the glass, stunning graduations on the metals and controlled reflections in the chrome. Achieving a nice metallic look to the metals require some nice ups and downs in tone. Face’s should be vibrant, and if they have textures they should pop. Given time a good Watch Photographer should be able to get the most out of all of these elements, therefore creating a value marketing asset with looks of depth and interest!

Often brands need great looking photography to flesh out their websites. or to feed the hungry social media machine. That’s where a good watch photographer comes in!

Here are some examples of images that are shot on interesting or textured backgrounds. Of course they need elevating with the use of high res cameras and top quality lighting, but they also need a little more reality to them. Shots that look like you could reach in and pick the watches up. Often our clients are looking for specific spaces to fill out on a website or brochure, or they want high engagement from their audience online.

Understanding of the brand really comes into play here. Backgrounds and props can really lead customers, so getting the target market right and aligning the set is paramount. Typically this is the sort of Product shot that may require a stylist. Someone to source props and backgrounds and work with the watch photographer on set to compliment your new timepiece. Styling should never detract, but it can make a shot go from good to great.

Anyone selling watches online will need a set of stunning packshots! Beautiful, clean, high resolution images that make your customer want to press ‘buy’.

These images should be a very accurate representation of the watch the will receive with accurate colours and stunning clarity. Most packshot projects we complete are done in our studio in Bournemouth. Once clipped (cut out) the watch photographs will get put onto a pure white canvas – or indeed a colour of you choice – along will a nice grounding drop shadow. It’s worth noting that if you require a colour other than white, do let us know before hand. It’s best practice to shoot the watches either on a grey or on their chosen background, this is because the watches will reflect whatever is behind them. Once clipped that can look odd. This is why people often refer to objects looking like they are cutout… probably because they are!

The same attention to detail should be applied. Brush metals should look matte, shiny metals should look reflective with bright highlights and black reflections. Faces, dials, crowns, and hands should all stand out and shine.