RWI photo contest for novices; with prizes!

[TAGfan]

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring. Don't have time tonight to fully comply with the rules, but I'll post more later. These were taken with a Sony Cybershot in my shoebox light box. Did a bit of editing in Picasa/Photoshop.

Need to get more lights so I can take dead on shots without all of the glare I am getting at the moment. Enjoy !

 

[spider87]

How are the prizes being distributed? Is it one to each of 3 winners or does one winner get all of the prizes?

 

[alvinado]

Don't knock it Alviando; your looking good for a prize at the moment.

As they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink it.

Haha.. I agree, but more participations give more quality.. And nice pics drwatch

 

[Pix]

Thx for these really nice shots DrWatch !

Prizes are distributed to 3 different participants, according to the score they got granted by the organizers. AAt least that's what I understood.

 

[alvinado]

Thanks guys esp Phicks and Pic for the advice and I played with photoshop a little and came up with a before and after photo. Give me some comments guys. This is addictive! Argh!

Before:

After:

 

[Pix]

Alviando, that looks like your skills have become very good
I would put a bit less sharpening on the bracelet, otherwise that's a great shot for a great watch
It looks like we're going to have difficulties choosing the winner....

 

[PHicks]

@Alviando, that is a phenomenal improvement. Definitely a case of going from an OK snap shot to a well produced picture.

Pix mentioned the amount of sharpness; you will probably notice that when you increase sharpness it can either help or add a sort of prickly effect. There seems to be a balance where a little sharpness is good but it quickly drops off.

@Spider87, all 3 prizes are going to a friend of mine down the road. No, seriously, the top 3 entries will be decided by D4M and Pix and the prizes sent out accordingly. The only input I have is to supply one of the prizes and pay the shipping costs!

@DrWatch, those are 2 nice pictures that you posted. I particularly like the first one because you got the focal point spot on which makes it interesting to look at. You may find that reducing the amount of light is the key. I have an early Cybershot and, as I recall, you should be able to do a long exposure (say 3 or 4 seconds). You will need a tripod (or something homemade) to do that and, if you can, try using a delayed exposure so that your initial 'click' does not cause camera shake. Adding light may prove to add more glare opportunities. I've found that positioning the lights some 3 or 4 feet away from the light box gives the best results because this tends to light up the whole box and not create 'hot' spots. Just a thought, I'm sure Pix can add to this.

 

[daytona4me]

I wanted to show an example using the free program Picasa http://picasa.google.com/ and the use of it's one click "I'm Feeling Lucky" which analyzes the colors and makes adjustments to what it thinks is the best (not always the best though). It adjusted the contrast and colors to make them pop better than they were. I seldom use it as I prefer to adjust the fill in light and tints myself.. but I do think it makes an untouched photo look better if you could not figure out better programs.

This is a photo of a signature strap that Savage just built for me. At this point it is a one of a kind

Below is a good example of the difference this one click option can make.

Unedited:

Edited:

 

[Mitchydkid]

Greetings,
my first post on the forums!
As you can guess, I am new to this. I love watches, but I'm not a knowlegable person like so many on here. I have about half a dozen watches, Seiko, Nautica, Fossil, AND I have a Rep Rolex (pictured.) I bought it in Mexico back when I would not be able to spot a fake Rolex if it bit me. You guys will have fun with this one, its aweful! Anyway, I wanted to post a picture. It is not an entry for the contest as it is just a single picture I took in a hurry. I have a Tag Link Chrono on the way from HONT. If it shows up in time, I will try and get some contest photos in. If not, maybe I will try with this lousy watch. At least it is automatic and not quartz. I opened it and it has a chinese movt. with lettering printed on it. See y'all around.
-Mitchydkid

 

[spider87]

Finally got around to taking some more pics. Was bored so I was playing around with Picasa... got some neat looking effects i think....

Sitting on my fiance's bottom jaw (from ortho years ago haha) w/ Saturation and sharpen:


My watch sitting on a folding feather fan(don't ask) with focus blur:


Same effect as focus blur just now with star wars minis in pic(they were dusty I didn't realize until the camera let me count how much dust was on each (I love how well it defines these pics lol):


Sharpen and a bit of saturation on 1 of my favorite ties:


Should be getting a few more out here... Have some star wars minis (from McD's) that the watch is posing with and a few other random things. I've come to the conclusion if you want weird/interesting props I'm your man lol I have so much random crap in my room

 

[PHicks]

Greetings,
my first post on the forums!
As you can guess, I am new to this. I love watches, but I'm not a knowlegable person like so many on here. I have about half a dozen watches, Seiko, Nautica, Fossil, AND I have a Rep Rolex (pictured.) I bought it in Mexico back when I would not be able to spot a fake Rolex if it bit me. You guys will have fun with this one, its aweful! Anyway, I wanted to post a picture. It is not an entry for the contest as it is just a single picture I took in a hurry. I have a Tag Link Chrono on the way from HONT. If it shows up in time, I will try and get some contest photos in. If not, maybe I will try with this lousy watch. At least it is automatic and not quartz. I opened it and it has a chinese movt. with lettering printed on it. See y'all around.
-Mitchydkid

Well, welcome to RWI Mitchydkid. Great to have you posting a picture straight off the bat. Most members here have a variety of watches from really basic inexpensive models to some more exotic Reps so don't feel bad about your Rolex. Feel free to post a few sample shots; it can only give you a bit more practice. I kinda like your shot, the clean background makes the watch stand out. If you haven't done so already you may want to try downloading PhotoFiltre, it's free. I suspect that the writing on your dial could be improved with the sharpen function. Just a thought.

@Spider87, you're fiance give's you strange presents! I like the feather duster shot. Not so sure we share the same taste in ties though! Keep them coming. Glad to see you managed to figure out a solution to the Red Cross payment.

 

[alvinado]

Hi guys, I am bent on winning a prize here!
No... I just think I am in love with photoshop editing, I am just having so much fun with so much fun with it!
So guys if you think that too much is too much, let me know and I will find other aspects of photography to explore!

Here are 2 more photoshop edits:

Hublot Before:

Hublot After:

Lumeshot1:

Lumeshot with some flare!:

 

[spider87]

@PHicks haha you don't like my tie? It looks really nice with the suit I got that's why it's one of my favs and the feather pic was one of my fav's too I really like how the color turned out when I edited it a little because it looks like it's in a flame or something.

 

[spider87]

My drug (sharpened with some cooling of the colors):


An up close with a "Straightening" effect and sharpening and cooling:

 

[PHicks]

So guys if you think that too much is too much, let me know and I will find other aspects of photography to explore!

No, not at all. It's all good clean fun. It's interesting what you can do with editing s/w these days. I was looking thru an old photo book the other day, one of those glossy instructional books written before digital camera's were even on the horizon. Besides the fact that you only got one chance to take a picture back then, the editing consisted of a pair a scissors and an enlarger. Pretty amazing what some people achieved.

Hope you are enjoying your Hublot; you may have noticed that my avatar is actually the tip of a Hublot second hand.

@Spider87, I think we need to change your user name to 'props'. I was only kidding about the tie; I don't think I've warn a tie in 10 years (apart from the odd black one).

This is a quick snapshot that I took of my latest acquisition; a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms that arrived the other day. The crown is pulled out to stop the seconds hand. An unusual but interesting watch that fit's my wrist well.

 

[spider87]

It's a very nice watch. Where did you purchase it from?

 

[PHicks]

I got it from Davidsen; check out his listings.

This is a watch that has only previously been repped at a fairly low standard. The DSN version is definitely the best around although it still isn't super accurate. I like the watch partly because of it's history. Jacques Cousteau wore this watch; it was specifically developed for diving. This is one of the few rep's around that is genuinely tested for being waterproof; i.e. diving as opposed to standing in the shower.

 

[spider87]

Nice it's a nice watch price is a little steep for me atm but very cool.

 

[alvinado]

So guys if you think that too much is too much, let me know and I will find other aspects of photography to explore!

No, not at all. It's all good clean fun. It's interesting what you can do with editing s/w these days. I was looking thru an old photo book the other day, one of those glossy instructional books written before digital camera's were even on the horizon. Besides the fact that you only got one chance to take a picture back then, the editing consisted of a pair a scissors and an enlarger. Pretty amazing what some people achieved.

Hope you are enjoying your Hublot; you may have noticed that my avatar is actually the tip of a Hublot second hand.

@Spider87, I think we need to change your user name to 'props'. I was only kidding about the tie; I don't think I've warn a tie in 10 years (apart from the odd black one).

This is a quick snapshot that I took of my latest acquisition; a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms that arrived the other day. The crown is pulled out to stop the seconds hand. An unusual but interesting watch that fit's my wrist well.

Yes i am enjoying wearing the big bang, but i do wish they rep the red devil's bang as i am a manchester united fan!

 

[spider87]

This thread kind of died... Think I'll pound out a few more pics today to see if we can't get it going again?