Gary G
3734
Observatoire Macro Day
Greetings to all! This is my second attempt to post this set of photos, as the site ate my homework the first time. After some unusually colorful cursing, I have returned to the keyboard, but thankfully for you will not re-type the lengthy exposition on technique and features of the Observatoire movement that accompanied the first attempt -- those thoughts are now lost to history 
. How about some photos?
All for now!
Best,
Gary G
Photography
Explore Gary G's stunning photos of the Philippe Dufour Duality in white gold. Discover community insights on its design, movement, and photographic challenges.
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Observatoire Macro Day
Greetings to all! This is my second attempt to post this set of photos, as the site ate my homework the first time. After some unusually colorful cursing, I have returned to the keyboard, but thankfully for you will not re-type the lengthy exposition on t...
nicely done Gary
Hell of a watch and stunning photos The Finnish know how to finish!!! Sorry to hear about your homework problems! Did the site eat your dial pictures too? ;-)
Thanks and :-)
The site didn't eat the dial side photos -- there just weren't any I took this time that I liked we'll enough to post... Agree with you about the Finnish finish! Best, Gary
wheel color
Gary, I was looking just now at your fabulous photos on my big monitor and wonder is it just me, or are the crown wheel and ratchet wheel slightly different color in the first few photographs? The crown wheel seems to have more of a brass or yellowish tin...
Good eyes!
Hi, Michael -- I'm on the road right now so don't have the ability to pull my watch out of the safe and look right now, but by studying the photos and drawing on my recollection, my best sense is that the wheels are in fact different colors. As you note, ...
Another, earlier photo
Michael -- Here's another photo of the watch, taken a few months ago in natural light: Again in this shot, the wheels appear quite different to me. Part of it may be the way that the ratchet wheel is finished (deeply grained) vs. the crown wheel, and may ...
Surreal!
Again, these movement pics. are tops & demonstrates what can be achieved at the very high end. I understand your frustration with lost text and wasted effort as I have experienced the same, resulting in the utmost profanity. :) The solution: write len...
Good advice!
This isn't the first time I have inadvertently navigated away from a draft post or hit the backspace key on a photo -- both of which kill the entire post! Thanks for the advice and kind words, Fernando. Best, Gary
You couldn't wait till next Monday?
But I'm glad you didn't! Spectacular macro shots, I assume with stacked images and some sort of tilt lens. You get better by the week, Gary. And you seem to be enjoying yourself. Hope you saved something for Macro Monday next week? :-) Andrew
No, and yes...
Thanks, Andrew! Practice, practice, practice, as they say. Not entirely satisfied with this batch but thought that a few were "good enough" to share. You are correct in assuming that I have something in hand for Macro Monday :-) Best, Gary
It is just ...
painful to look at these pictures but we are talking about good pain here :) Thank you Gary Cordially Damjan
The best starting point, Damjan
...is a great watch! Thanks for your note... Best, Gary
Gary, it seems you have ...
not only a great equipment. Your teacher seems to be good as well :-) Your computer must burn with stacked pictures like this - 10, 15 ...? Keep them coming, those photos are much appreciated by me. Oliver
New computer helps!
So true, Oliver -- you can almost hear the gears grinding! Glad you liked these! I am having more success with correct color rendering and lighting as a result of my first lessons... Best, Gary
No nuts!
Thanks, SJX -- I was successful in cleaning the Long Bar residue... Best, Gary
Award-winning photos...
... of an award-winning timepiece. Kari's work is top drawer. Thanks for the always excellent photos! - Scott
Thank you, Scott!
Always a pleasure to share a piece like this with fellow PuristS -- thanks for your kind words! Best, Gary
One word ... WOW!!!
Gary, Your advances on watch photography are amazing. My sincere congratulations. I know (by failing) how hard is to take this kind of pictures. Cheers, Nilo
Means a great deal coming from you, Nilo!
As I hope you know, I am a huge admirer of your photographs -- always very atmospheric and full of emotions and contrast. You are right that for me at least, it takes a lot of attempts to get a few output images that show a watch to good advantage! I will...
Very very beautiful!
Just one question. What did you do of the (not so anti-reflective) crystal? Best- Z'
Non-AR crystal
Thanks for your comment and question! You are of course correct that Kari does not use external AR on his crystals, which can make it tough to get clear images. I do a lot of repositioning of watch, camera, and lights to eliminate direct reflections, and ...
Again, superb pics Gary!
Thanks for sharing, a tour de force in watch photography, plus you have some pretty subjects to shoot! Cheers, Tim
Thanks, Tim!
It does of course help to have some great starting materials! Best, Gary
WOWWWWWWW
very crisp and illustrative shot. really bring out Kari's finishing to the tee. perhaps Kari should buy these images for his marketing materials!! stacking, shagging, stagging...all greek to me!! :)- best, Horo
Thanks, Horo!
As you know I am a big fan of Kari's finishing work! Don't worry about the stacking/shagging -- just leave it to me ;-) Best, Gary
Great macros Gary....
I especially like 3,4 and 5 with neat highlights and great lighting that reveals the curves and fine finishing. Somehow I think these are all single shots with no photo stacking. Cheers,dreamer
Thanks for the specific comments, dreamer
You have a good eye, as I am sure that #5 is a single image and 4 may be as well (I am away from my computer so can't look right now). I included #1 not for its composition but because it may be the first photo I have taken of this watch that really shows...
Very clear and balanced pictures
a real pleasure to discover them in detail. You're so lucky to be able to take care of her, thanks Gary! Cheers, Mark
Thanks, Nicko!
It's a real pleasure to be able to share this one with this community. Best, Gary
Gary, spectacular photos
of a spectacular watch. I know how passionate you are about this Observatoire, and these photos are up to the task. I also observe that your posts seem consistently to raise the passion of fellow PuristS, so many responses of thanks for leading us deep in...
Not sure about that second career thing
...but I will certainly be pursuing this as an active hobby for a long time! And, of course, you are always welcome to join in on the process in whatever way you want, although to be honest I think that looking at the output has to be more interesting tha...