The Timepiecer

Watches and Wonders 2025 seems like a lifetime away now. But here is my retrospective. Not of this year’s novelties but my thoughts on the experience from a photographer’s perspective. This year, I had the opportunity to attend the event prior to the public days. It was a chance to get up close and personal with some the 2025 releases. No looking or shooting through glass this year (largely)! It will all be fine, right?

The Subject Matter At Hand

The morning before I am due to go to Palexpo, I went to visit my mentor and friend, Kristian Dowling (@kristiandowling), for the start of his photography workshop, Watch Portraiture, down at the Geneva Leica Store. He ran a similar workshop last year with Andrew Morgan, which I found, quite frankly, transformative. This year, I only had time to stay for the initial thoughts on his approach, the theory if you may, before the cohort does to the practical photography session. One of the things that stuck with me was getting to know your subject matter. And by getting to know, his example goes “If I only have 5 minutes to shoot a watch, I would spend the first 3 minutes examining the watch, find its best attributes, its best possible angles. And then I’ll spend the remaining time shooting the piece”. No spray and pray there from Kristian. It sounds like such a simple piece of advice, but on reflection, it is a pitfall that I have seen myself get into when shooting watches at events where several factors, including time, are constrained.

This year, a lot of release updates went out at midnight, 1^st April, Geneva time. This very much helped with planning and deciding what gear to bring with me. It also allowed for initial thoughts on how it might be best to capture the pieces. I got a plan, I thought. But then again, nothing beats handling and seeing the pieces in the metal and in the environment in which one would be capturing the watches, as I soon found out.

A Matter of Space & Time

Kristian’s almost prophetic words of “If I only had 5 minutes to shoot a watch…” certainly struck a chord in this regard. Appointments usually ran between 30 minutes to an hour.  And within that time, I needed to get familiar with lighting conditions, get acquainted with the watches, do my set-up, shoot and adjust. All the while, our brand hosts were also talking about the year’s novelties. And yes, of course I did want to listen, I am still a watch enthusiast after all, and knowing the watch through the storytelling would help encapsulate what a piece is all about, and its key attributes. Its personality if you may. It certainly tested my multi-tasking skills to a level that my wife would probably be proud of, but would also leave her bemused at my inability to exhibit such dexterity in day-to-day home life! Don’t get me wrong, it is likely I may have missed a detail or two, but I guess I needed to be locked in.

Space, in general, was at a premium. A table was always welcome but when there are trays of watches, the challenge was to be able to utilise an area just bigger than an A3 sized paper to shoot at. I also had to utilise bar tops, coffee tables and a side cabinet. No tripods for me either. I did bring a monopod, but it did not see much action due to time constraints. It became a test of steady arms over a few days. Palexpo’s Watches & Wonders set-up is very much like a small village. Moving between appointments required some serious step count throughout the day, sometimes at pace. Comfortable shoes are very much required – disregard this point at your own risk!

A Matter of Light

I had expectations that booth lighting in the guest rooms was likely to be similar to what watch boutiques are like. Harsh, warm lights that do not necessarily help us photographers in being able to fully capture the beauty of the pieces on show. Perhaps the same can be said for guests too. What did catch me out is the variety of lighting execution. From bright and harsh to warm but dim but also a handful of soft and diffused. What further complicated the matter was moving from one set-up to another, with hardly any consistency between subsequent sessions.

I was travelling relatively light, backpack on my shoulder and a canvas bag on the side for sundries and merch. There was no scope to bring the big studio lights, soft boxes, or light stands. I had an arsenal of battery powered lights running between 15W and 25W at the high end. A small diffuser helped amplify the small wattage of my lights and gave some softening cover. Whilst a roll of craft foam served as a reflector. All of these were held by a contraption composed of a mini-tripod, magic arms and clamps. It was aptly named a “MacGyver” set-up (credit to Tom @bowlofsalmon for that name). And somehow it largely worked.

In such situations, all one can do is adapt. Adapt and learn between sessions with the occasional reprieve when you go to a certain brand’s space and their booth has nice soft lighting. Brands need to seriously consider lighting for guests & media. With the prevalence of social media, they would really be helping themselves by helping guests take the best images of their offerings in the best possible environment. And no, it does not need to look like a lab or an office. Several brands have managed to do some clever executions, whilst others even had lighting equipment and props that you can borrow.

A Matter of Belief

Pressure much? Sure! But to have someone believe in you, yeah that is a boost. New acquaintances checking my stuff out and connecting? Yeah, that is a boost. Every encounter was an opportunity to seek wisdom, tips, hacks, pieces of advice – whatever you want to call it. “Just keep shooting, man”, one of them said after checking out my grid. I might not be there yet, but I am on the right path seems. The journey must be continued.

A Matter of Fun

I cannot remember how many times I said “Oh, is that you?!” It sure has been quite a bumper year for post event meetups. It is certainly an aspect of the trip that I look forward to next time around.

My key takeaways from this year

• A lot of effort and care comes into content creation, as well as product presentations. Having experienced a fraction of what full time creators, photographers and watch brand staff have to go through during those days gives a sense of perspective. Kudos to all of you.
• Shooting in the wild does not always allow for space, time and thought for props and complex lighting – focus on the subject at hand.
• I really need to get comfortable with flash photography and the potential it could bring. My portable light set-up can only take things so far.
• Take every appointment as an opportunity to learn and improve, as different watches throw its own curve balls. Beware of the polished sections!
• Practice makes better (and experiment now and then) in preparation for next year. With every challenge that is overcome, a wisdom is gained.
• I need to consider a wheeled storage solution, my back can only take so much in those long days.
• Do not be afraid to ask. Seek advice. You do not always have to do and face things alone. People can be more accommodating than you think coz this community is awesome.
• Do not forget why you love what you do and have fun!