Chillout TGIF: Photo Assignment – your submissions!

Last week, we sent out a request for submissions to our #ShootYourWatches assignment for your time during this extraordinary isolation period for most of us around the world. We received an overwhelming number of submissions, all very good, and a large number which are excellent. We share some of the best submitted to our email here. Next week, we continue with the best submitted by tagging our Instagram account.

Many thanks also to Hodinkee, whose shout-out to our assignment, no doubt also contributed to the numbers we are receiving. Many thanks to Jon Bues.

Without further ado, here are our picks from the week’s submission to [email protected]. These picks are those which piqued our interest, and are presented in no particular order. I will comment on what attracted me to each photograph, and why I think it stands out.

Bruno Candeias

Bruno submitted two photographs, both excellent. But this one caught my attention, in that there was action to this wrist shot of his white and blue TAG Heuer Autavia and his coffee grinder.

“Coffee is another of my hobbies. I thought it was an easy shot to make, but it ended up being quite tricky, since I wanted both my hands on the shot and the camera self timer doesn’t work when the camera is connected via WiFi. Long story short, I fired the camera though the phone on the floor using my thumb.”

Photographed with Fujifilm XT-2 with the XF 18mm f/2 R.

Alejandro Merizalde

Alejandro is a photographer, and from perusing his website, looks like he shoots landscape, primarily of Venice, Italy. And also of his travels.

He also submitted two photographs, and I particularly like this one of his 1979 Omega Speedmaster Pro. The photograph is made in his studio, and is a stack of 4 or 5 images, to ensure that all front to back elements are in focus. Alejandro did not specify, but I think he then cut the image out from the background and substituted with the image of a moon.

Photographed with Nikon D810 with Nikkor AF-S Micro 60mm f/2.8G ED. The exif shows he photographed this at f/40 (!), although the smallest aperture of the lens is f/32. Edited by the stacking software? Perhaps Alejandro may comment.

Jens Barslund

Jens is a Danish Interior Designer and Photographer and he submitted several images, all of them quite excellent. But the one which took my breath away is this one, with his Tudor Black Bay. The photograph is also a composite. Both the watch and background are photographed by Jens, and looking at the image, his Photoshop skills are quite good too.

Interestingly, the exif showed that Jens used his iPhone 7, which goes to show that you don’t professional gear to make excellent photographs.

Petri Kaipiainen

Petri made one submission, but it is enough. The lighting is almost perfect, with a warm glow of the sun from the right on the scene, which is beautifully setup with his DeMotu 42 Pilot, a Finnish watch on a background of well patina-ed leather flying gear with a passport. Tells a nice story.

Photographed with Nikon D800 with the Nikkor AF-S Micro 60mm f/2.8G ED.

Stef

Stef submitted an extreme macro shot of his Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue. The texture of the dial and print, including the thickness of the paint is clearly seen in this photograph.

Photographed with the Olympus TG-5, part of Olympus’ Tough series, which is an interesting choice. Stef did not say if he cropped this from the full image, but the TG-5 has a microscope mode which allows it to capture an subject measuring only about 9.2 x 6.9 millimeters to cover the small 1/2.33 inch sensor.

Paul De Martinis

Paul also submitted 3 photographs, and this one stood out by the use of his vintage Contax III camera as a prop. The camera is a true vintage, circa probably 1936 or so- with the Zeiss 50mm f/2 lens.

Camera was a Leica D-LUX (Typ 109).

Esbjorn

Esbjorn runs a small Australian watch review website, and submitted his Black IP G-shock. He photographed it over an old rusty mattress he found under a bridge near where he lives.

“Since to me, this watch would survive anything, I pictured something like a post apocalypse environment and I was happy with the result.”

I do agree that it certainly captures the spirit of toughness and being able to withstand adversity.

Photographed with Fujifilm X-H1 with XF 80mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Macro lens,

Łukasz Doskocz

Łukasz runs the Polish review website , and submitted several photographs, but the one I liked is this Piaget Polo environmental shot with books in the background, a lather card holder and pen as props.

He did not share the exif information, so I don’t know what gear he used to take this photograph, but I would imagine a mirrorless camera of some sort, as the depth of field small enough for the Piaget to be in focus, and isolates it from the out of focus background.

Dr Ryan Montoyas

Ryan submitted several flat lay photographs of his custom Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch. The Australian watch-builder Adam Lewis replaced the handset with SMP hands, the exhibition case-back from the sapphire sandwich, and the ceramic pulsations bezel from the CK 2998 panda, making for quite a unique watch.

The Omega is photographed with a magnificent, vintage Universal Genève Tri-Compax Ref 12283 with HOX stamping on the bridge, indicating that the watch was imported to the United States through the Henri Stern Watch Agency. The background is top of a vintage marble table he collected when he was living in Mumbai, India.

Photographed with a Leica Q (Typ 116) with natural lighting.

Ryan is the COVID test coordinator for Washington DC northeast, and his clinic is a testing center for the disease.

“And while it can seem silly in comparison, I’ve derived genuine joy from this doctor’s FOIS. It’s mere presence on my wrist has been a source of calm and happiness, a talisman I have by my side at work.

Concluding thoughts

And here we are, some very good photographs. Very impressive indeed. But these are the best of the best, the crème de la crème . We also received many which are very good, and also many photographs which don’t quite make the mark, but may be improved by making small adjustments here or there. As we did not call for a submission for critique, I intentionally did not do a critique. And also will not show those where we can all pick up learning points from discussion and suggestions to improve. Let us know in the comments below, if there is interest in a Photo Critique, and we may run such an assignment later.

We did mention we may award a prize for the best submission, and we now confirm we will be awarding one in the end of April. Let the prize be a mystery for now, but it will be a “watch branded” souvenir. You may continue to submit to our email [email protected] or tagging #ShootYourWatches. All submissions will be considered till April 30, 2020.

Next week: The Instagram submissions to @Deployant and tagged #ShootYourWatches.