Product photography with just ONE small light. Sharing my travel kit for watch photography.

[@EverydayWatchGuy]

This is one of the most comprehensive watch photo tutorials I have seen in a while 👍. I really appreciate the content as a KZbinr myself with a watch addiction 😂.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Much appreciate the feedback mate , thank you!

[@WristWatching]

I've never clicked on a video faster than this. Thank you so much for sharing these tips, Tom! I've been hoping you'd release a tutorial for ages, so this video was a nice surprise.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

It was a surprise for me too

[@Rizoh66]

Thanks for this, Tom! I think more of these will also help separate you from the other channels out there. Go get em!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx. And here I was naive in thinking quality of footage would be enough to stand out 😂

[@Rizoh66]

⁠Definitely didn't mean any disrespect. You're videos absolutely standout enough to make a difference. I was purely saying keep em" both. They're both quality brah!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

@@Rizoh66 none taken buddy . i was just trying to be silly ;)

[@hendersonshorology]

There he is! Absolutely LOVING the new format Tom and these photo tips are super helpful! More more more! 👏🏻👍🏻

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx Ryan.. you also one of those guys always pushing me to "do it" .. so thanks

[@hendersonshorology]

Really excited to see your content headed in a new direction. Can’t wait to see where this goes 👍🏻

[@predcole]

As a current photographer who has been wanting to get into more watch photography this was simply perfect. Thank you for your insights!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Glad it was helpful! Basics are there.. and this setup can get great results. But ofcourse with commercial gigs I'll switch to the bigger rig. thanks for watching.

[@fayeh4412]

For whatever reason KZbin recommended this channel to me, and out of curiosity I watched one, then two, then three videos. I can tell Tom actually put time and effort in his videos and contents, and he's a good speaker / narrator. Not surprisingly, this is another FANTASTIC video. Keep up the good work Tom!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Oooh too kind buddy 🙏

[@adam_meade]

I'm not a photographer but as a guy just selling the occasional watch on eBay, this was really helpful. I can't get over the difference that diffuser made.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

I’m happy if you take one thing away from this video. Thx for watching

[@Max.Effect]

I'm a deep watch enthusiasts but not a great photographer. I really enjoyed this video! The description of : waiting for everyone to be in bed, and so no natural light available is exactly my current life 😊

[@BowlOfSalmon]

i literally shot in my kitchen the first 2 years. Until I got to claim a room.

[@Watch4Jay]

Great stuff, Tom! We certainly appreciate videos like this 👏🏻

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Glad you enjoyed it Trish.... feels a bit strange to do tho :)

[@weeks55]

A giant thanks for making this video! I like the “why am I not doing it” quote but why aren’t more people sharing their watch photography setups?! I love the tripod setup and leaning diffuser. I picked up my old NEX-6 again for watch photography as a way to relax on the couch next to my dog. I didn’t buy gear for a couple of years and the limitations forced me to learn and practice a lot. Now my macro lens is an adapted A-Mount Tamron f/2.8. 90mm of sharpness from the ‘90s and it cost me about 90 bucks! But I got too busy taking photos outside to keep collecting watches 😂

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx for taking the time to watch

[@adamk8451]

This is great! Thank you for sharing these ideas and tips. Taking good pictures is something I really struggle with, as I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. So these practical bits of advice are great! And the more “low fi” and low budget, the better. 🙏 🙏

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thought about everyone their budget so they can buy more watches

[@TheCalibratedWrist]

Making it look easy! Great work, Tom.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Might have had some practice with watches

[@way2wei]

We need more of this !

[@BowlOfSalmon]

come say hi on patreon . haha

[@realzenith]

I love this new format ! Good to see you face on camera .

[@BowlOfSalmon]

just here to change things up

[@danb9012]

I’ve been waiting for this! Thanks Tom 👌🏻

[@BowlOfSalmon]

hope it was worth the wait

[@wixonjewelers]

Great video, Tom, and wonderful tips! You can never underestimate the power of lighting in watch photo/video, and it’s so cool to see how you do it with just the Godox tubes. This is perfect for travel watch photography!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

thanks ! not my usual setup because its not the easiest to work like this (overhead & light away from the table work faster) but as shown. you can get some pretty good results like that too

[@aminsalmee]

wow! cementing himself as the GOAT in the watch community! make this episodical please. maybe editing next?

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx mate. Editing. But how to give that some eye candy …

[@mcody68]

Great vid Tom. I love simple set ups and this tutorial will help lots of people. Great to meet you last week and look forward to meeting again some time. Cheers 👋

[@BowlOfSalmon]

thx Mark .

[@evanrobinson9513]

Nice to finally meet you, Tom! Content was great and you were also very natural in front of the camera 👍👍 please do more videos like this!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx for the feedback. Much appreciated

[@iansegal]

I LIKE THIS KIND OF VIDEO!!!! Well done Tom.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

thx Ian

[@meissnar]

Thanks for sharing your experience 🤗 It helps a lot! Please more of those videos!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

thanks... I'm not sure this is the way forward for my channel here but I'll try do incorporate some more if

[@WashingtonStatePhotography]

Hey, I love the addition of photo tutorials to the channel! For future content I’d be interested in hearing about other lighting setups and your process for focus stacking, since you already mentioned it in the video. I’ve done rudimentary focus stacking for landscapes but have gotten mixed results from Photoshop that needs a lot of manual cleanup. Thanks!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Not planning a follow up soon tbh. For stacking I use my sony a7 r v that has the ability to focus stack bracket shoot. And I use helicon focus to merge them.

[@ClickyBezel]

It's always cool to see everyone's lighting setup when shooting watches. As a matter of fact, I think every watch content creator should show off their shooting setup. Can we make this a trend for every watch creator out there? haha. Great video!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thanks. Remember this would be my ghetto setup on the road. Just to show that good results are possible with just one light.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

@watchcrunch heard you

[@ClickyBezel]

@@BowlOfSalmon I just saw that this morning haha.

[@HarrisonElmore]

Very nice! Love the suggestions!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Glad you like them!

[@BoJo3003]

Since I recently bought my first "good" camera I already experimented a bit and also enjoyed the Fratello podcast with you as a special guest. I'd love to see more videos like this!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

you saw me there so that softened the blow to se me here again ! thanks for watching... let me know what you would like to see ?!

[@BoJo3003]

@@BowlOfSalmon appreciate your reply! Just a general video about the composition of a good watch photo for all different types (wristshot, flatlay, etc) would be amazing. For me your tips for better lighting are great, however the „first step“ for a good photo is missing. Somehow many photos just look too boring :(

[@mrcritchlow]

More of these videos please ❤

[@BowlOfSalmon]

you take photos of watches sometime ? ;)

[@watch_girl_life]

Love this Tom. Thanks for sharing this setup and gear.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

My pleasure! kinda feels a bit strange tho :)

[@gordo1002]

Tom - lovely to see you again. Amazing video as always. (the voice guy)

[@BowlOfSalmon]

hey man. thanks for being the trigger on this! Can you drop me a quick email at info AT bowlofsalmon DOT com ?

[@stephenso3]

Thanks for sharing Tom. Always admired your work. Very excited to buy the light and diffuser to start off things.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

*affiliate links kuch* thanks :)

[@watchgnosis7564]

Incredible work and thanks for sharing Tom 🙏🙏

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Many thanks!

[@maritimuse9127]

Thank you so much! I have been spoiled by having access to a studio light. Time to go back to basics and experiment a bit more.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

You got this! continuous lights ftw

[@ummar02]

Nice, I will definitely use some of these tips to photograph some of my watches.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TimeTailorUK]

Great video Tom, thanks for sharing 👍🏼

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Welcome mate. Thx for watching

[@assessen]

Great video Tom

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx Chris !

[@GuleNissen123]

Lovely BTS Tom 🙌

[@BowlOfSalmon]

thx for watching mate !

[@ijrm37]

Loved the video, inspired to give this a go!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thx. Have some fun Mcguyver !

[@GinginWatches]

Great video Tom! Your setup is indeed very universal, for video and stills. I don't shot video outside of my office, so I focus on photography. My travel gear is very simple - Atlas Reporter 200 flash light. All I need is to find white ceiling to bounce the light. With photography I'm a pixel peeper, so i'm never satisfied with shots where it's too little light, and details on the dial aren't that crisp. Reporter 200 isn't as powerful as I like, but good enough :)

[@BowlOfSalmon]

I've never tried mixing flash photography with watches tbh ... I like my real time preview

[@GinginWatches]

@@BowlOfSalmon yeah, real time is much easier and convenient. But amount of light from flash is incredible when compared to countinous light source.

[@pathfindercod4638]

Fantastic video, learned a lot - thank you

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Glad it was helpful mate. thanks for watching and hope to see you in the next one .

[@ThePrintableWatchCo]

Great tips, thank you!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MichaelOwenUK]

Thank you! Love the content ❤

[@BowlOfSalmon]

thanks mate !

[@ManVsWatch]

Hi Tom :) Really interesting video :) I shot only with one light for the watch reviews. Nice results :)

[@BowlOfSalmon]

I usually have enought with one light... but it usually is a TON bigger :)

[@twosecondswatch]

Thanks for doing this video Tom, really helps small creators like me to up my own video recording, watch shots and also watch videos. I can’t do videos as good as yours, but this kind of video is really helpful. Too bad the KZbin algorithm doesn’t push this, I had to discover it by browsing your channel. Shame on the views as I know how much effort is put into making this very video. Great job on your channel btw! 😊

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thanks mate. I haven’t figured out the algo much or I just didn’t describe this properly. I also don’t hype my thumbnails enough or something. Plenty to learn here beside just video I guess.

[@twosecondswatch]

@@BowlOfSalmon It's a journey for me as well, of course my video and photography is in NO WAY close to your quality! However, I have been slowly improving by experimenting. PS. If you ever want to see what pre-owned watches or have any watch strap/accessories need, do drop by our website. Again thanks for sharing this, I actually applied it to my future upcoming videos, especially the tips on the lighting and diffuser.

[@magnusswann2403]

NEVER thought to setup my tripod like that! 🤯

[@BowlOfSalmon]

lol... you can also set it on the table with stuff in between the legs ... (but reflections)

[@BowlOfSalmon]

if you hand an adult an empty bottle of coke its just an empty bottle.. if you hand a kid an empty bottle of coke... it becomes so much more .. he will whissle on it , he will look through it like a kaleidoscope, .... moral of the story.... try and do more with less :)

[@iLucianDiaconescu]

Nice one!! Are you using any CPL or ND Filters?

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Only rarely do I use or try a polarizing filter. Nd isn’t neeeded in the studio as I can just adjust my lights

[@hammadzama]

Which editor are you using for rotating the camera angle?

[@BowlOfSalmon]

keyframing in any app will get you a long way.. its getting the watch to move that is the trick

[@gackerman99]

the iphone shot freaked me out. was watching this tutorial to get a sense of why my watch shots were so unbelievably bad. thought it was camera and lighting related, obviously, so the lighting advice and products will be of great help. but i figured something else was going on with the iphone because it simply refused to capture what the naked eye would see - it introduces all sorts of random color grading, fuzziness, poor focus, idk...almost always its user error.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

controlling light is key for any camera

[@dultanur]

Sorry, Tom, horrible video. Showing me how simple it can be, just took away any excuse I had for not getting into it. I will bill you with the equipment purchases and spam the heck out of you with my crappy shots on Instagram. Sorry, all your fault. Joking aside, superb video with excellent examples and I really like the way you always try to explain why it works the way it does in a way noobs like me can understand. Also, face reveals are always weird, but only for one minute. I remember seeing Andrew (Morgan) for the first time... I was like, WTF?! for like 30 seconds. Now he's like a member of the family :))) Love this style of video, keep up the great work my man!!!

[@BowlOfSalmon]

crappy shots are a thing of the past :) thanks for watching. and I just make it look easy ... job protection etc ;)

[@dultanur]

@@BowlOfSalmon haha, you'd think? wait till you see MY crap :))) me and @crapwatchphotography are best buds, I warn you.

[@kart182]

Why do some people say “flecto”?

[@BowlOfSalmon]

habits ... types faster ... "reflection on the watch " sorry for the capital offense ;)

[@gackerman99]

I'm actually not a fan of the "dark room" style. it reads as significantly less natural and more marketing-edit. as a watch collector I don't really respond at all to images that appear overly staged or edited. that doesn't mean they can't be - but when a watch is sitting on a table with a single source of perfectly white diffuse light, it just doesn't look right. no part of planet earth is ever actually lit that way. maybe the trick si having multiple controlled light sources if not including ambient? but what do I know. been a big fan of monochrome watches articles because their photography seems decidedly natural - none of that "weird dark room" effect that makes for example Teddy Baldassare's b-roll basically useless imagery.

[@BowlOfSalmon]

fair enough... i come from wedding photography where my job was to make the bride look as best as possible.. and I couldn't do that putting her in front of tv screen in the couch becuase that is where she usually sits at night :). good studio light shows the details of the watch that the brands spend hours on determining ... that said, i think a good mix of product photography (not renders) and outdoor styled shoots are ideal

[@joeygreen77]

Do less like this please. You’re giving away all the secrets 😂 Can you do a tutorial on how to fold away a diffuser please?

[@BowlOfSalmon]

Thought about that too ….