John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I had this idea, then another UH poster showed how mine might look. So, armed with a new tripod and a remote release here's my take. Going in the next club open digital comp. I suspect the old pro's have seen it done before but you've got to start somewhere.

ravenglass Loc: Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Old pro`s never die they just click away lol, nice pic and good luck with the comp.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Nice job, John.

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Wow!!
I never seen 10 seconds!
I think this is a "Way Cool" shot, to me!
("Way Cool" is a lot more cool than "very cool")
Pat

Rene'spictures Loc: me to know you to find out :)

neat! :-D

lathropski Loc: Boise, ID

"Way cool" is right! Perhaps you could share your technique? I like it alot!
Dar

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I did this on a wet / snowy day. This is important because it all but eliminates shadow, even indoors so long as you do not have house lighting on. Use an old toothbrush to remove any dust or debris from the strap and the watch. Little bits of stuff really show up otherwise. I then placed the watch on a black fibreboard as this also helped in eliminating shadow.
I used a CANON 60D + 100mm macro lens mounted on a tripod (one that lets you swivel the centre arm) over the watch, and a remote release to fire the shutter. After ensuring the lens was perpendicular I found it easier to move the watch closer to the lens to get the almost frame filler size I wanted. Then just fiddle with ISO & F-stop settings to get the time exposure you want. I think I was going ISO 100 + around F10 for this. Take a couple of shots to check exposure (sometimes 10 secs. on the camera isn't 10 secs on the watch) and adjust to suit.
This won't work with a ROLEX (unless it's a fake) or other high end watch as these tend to have a sweep movement, a cheaper digital watch will have a movement that 'jumps' from second to second - and that is what you see here, 10x 1 second jumps of the second hand and a slight blurring at the end of the minute hand.
A look in a jewellers or watch catalogue will often show the product at ten 2 two. Don't know why, but they looked O.K. so after getting it all set up I just waited 30 mins until the right time came around.
Give it a try - I'm sure it's easier than I've made it sound. Good luck.

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Very clean shot. I like it a lot! Thanks. Boone

The Roving Viking Loc: Creston, British Columbia

YES,"way cool" says it all. Loved the "out of the box" thinking.

Colin Holmes Loc: Luton England

Love it, given me an idea.

zeek Loc: Sacramento, CA

XLNT Image. Thanks for the idea and full explenation on how to. :lol:

iDoc Loc: Knoxville,Tennessee

Clever idea-well done. Thanks for the explanation.

kensurfside Loc: Parksville BC Canada

10 minutes to 200 or ten minutes after 1000 puts the hands of a watch into a position that frames where the manufacturer's logo used to be - in the upper centre of the watch.

Like the effect!!

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Along with a no. of other shots, 4 in total, this scored 17/20 in our clubs 'Open Digital' competition last night. I made a big mistake - the shot had to be resized to a maximum 1024 X 768 to fit the projector and this led to some softening on the edges especially when blown up on a display screen. I could have retreived the situation with a little sharpening but chose not to, partly because I was unaware of just how much difference the resizing would make, particularly on a shot of this nature. There is an inter club competition coming up where the scoring will be harsher but if I can maintain a 17 with a little sharpening I'll be very happy indeed.

zeek Loc: Sacramento, CA

17 out of 20 sounds like a very good score John. Good luck with the next club compitition.