OnSet Part 2: Lighting Tutorial - Seiko SNK809 Watch

Hello! Welcome to my second lighting tutorial. In this tutorial, I will walk you through step by step on how I created the shot of the Seiko SNK809 Field Watch. For this particular image, I wanted to create a clean and rugged military look. This is the final image we will achieve.

Gear

Camera and Lens:

Nikon D750
Nikon 105mm 2.8G Micro

Lighting:

2x Yongnuo YN560 II
Yongnuo YN560 III
Yongnuo YN560TX
1x 60x90cm Softbox
1x 20x30cm Softbox

Other:

Backpack as prop
Clamps
Flags

Lighting Diagram and BTS

Step 1

Set the camera on a tripod and set up the props for the photo. For this photo I used, a military style backpack with MOLLE webbing attachment slings as the background. Frame up the shot and play around with watch and place it at different angles to observe what enhances the dial of the watch.

Step 2

With the camera and watch placed in position. Set camera settings to at least 1 stop under exposed and take a test shot. Make sure that no ambient light affects the flash exposure. For the key light, I decided to use a 60x90 cm strip softbox placed behind the subject on camera left. This key light 's purpose was to provide a soft rim light on the topside of the watch while creating deep shadows.

Step 3

As seen in Step 2 the photo is very underexposed. To lift the shadows from darkness I placed a second light with a bare bulb on camera right firing upwards towards the ceiling to act as a fill light. This light fills in the shadow and increases the exposure dramatically.

Step 4

The right side of the watch was a bit underexposed. I placed a third light with a 20x30cm softbox on camera right to balance the light from Light A and add highlights to define the edge of the watch.

Step 5

The photo is close to complete with the lights placed in the correct position. For my personal preference, I dislike the reflections from the dial the watch. As a result, I used a black flag to eliminate the reflective light from Light B. By flagging the light, it eliminates the reflection while creating a gradual transition to the subtle reflection.

Step 6

With all lights in place take the final photo for post production. Check out what each light does in the slide show below:

A - Key Light

B - Fill Light

C- Accent Light

D - Flag

Post Production

The post production for this particular photo was very simple and all completed only using Lightroom. For this photo I added more contrast to further define the lines and create depth to the watch. I also dropped the white balance a bit cooler to give the photo a clean modern look. Check out the before and after below:

Final Image

This is the final image: