How to shoot a watch and style your set for e-commerce and editorials
Learn how to prepare, style, and capture watches for convincing e-commerce and creative editorial shots.
In this tutorial, our expert Matt Brasier shows you helpful hacks on how to best style and capture watches for your e-commerce store and creative editorial content.
You’ll learn how to prepare watches before shooting for minimal post-processing and how to style your set when shooting e-commerce versus editorial or campaign imagery.
In this tutorial we cover the following:
- Arranging your watch(es) for minimal post-processing
- Capturing different product shots of your watch(es) for e-commerce
- Styling your set and capturing your watch(es) for creative editorial shots
You’ll need:
- A watch
- A can of compressed air
- A pair of cotton gloves
- A small piece/ stick of plastic
- Foamboard, books, etc. to create depth
- Colored cardboard or colored paper
- Optional: A plastic stand or ring to support your watch
- A well-lit set and camera:
- Traditional photo studio set-up: lights, diffusers, cameras, etc.
- DIY home set-up: High-quality DSLR camera and a spot with lots of natural light, or
- Our Profoto Eclipse
Prepare your watch for less post-processing
Before shooting, make sure that your watch looks spotless to save yourself some valuable time during post-production. Arrange your items wearing cotton gloves to avoid fingerprints on reflective surfaces. Use compressed air to remove even the smallest dust particles. Finally, use a small piece of plastic to finetune your product positioning.
Tip: Setting the time on your watch to ten to two or 10:10 creates a positive image in the customer’s head as it resembles a smiling face and appeals to the human brain with symmetry.
Capturing watches for your e-commerce product pages
When shooting content for e-commerce we advise using rather neutral backgrounds such as white or light grey. By doing so you let your product shine and move your customers’ focus to the product features you’d like to highlight.
There are several options and different ways to capture your watch. When shooting, try to keep your audience’s questions in mind and show all relevant product details like face, wristband, and buckle of your watch.
When featuring several colorways, either shoot every option separately or combine color options in one image for easier comparison. This enables your customers to quickly and effortlessly find their item of choice.
Shooting creative watch content for editorials and campaign imagery
When capturing editorial content the options are limitless. You can experiment with different colored backdrops, fun props, lighting, shadows, and angles. In our example, Matt used foam board to elevate some of the surfaces on set. Playing around with different heights casts natural shadows that create a three-dimensional feel, adding depth to your image. You can also use books or even wooden planks to achieve this effect. Matt then covered the elevated surfaces with different colored sheets of paper and placed the watches on them.
Try out what works for you. Switch around objects and backdrops, play with colors and textures. Use your lighting to create a balanced composition. When shooting a black and a white colorway, let the main light hit your objects from the side of the black watch to lighten up the darker face a bit more.
In summary:
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Preparation before your shoot is key. Use cotton gloves to arrange your watch(es) and spray them with canned air. A piece of plastic helps with final styling touches.
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Use neutral backgrounds for e-commerce shots. Show all relevant product features with your imagery and try to keep your customers’ questions in mind when capturing your content.
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For creative shots, play around with different colors, heights, lighting, and angles. Try to create a balanced image that appeals to your audience.