Thanks for the advice . . . you do a great job with your photos, and I thank you for the suggestions.

I must confess: On night one, I realized that the Nikon D300 could be used to fire my SB-800 as a remote, so I was like the kid who had just received the new bicycle on Christmas Day . . . no interest in reading instructions; all I wanted to do was jump on the bike and ride. The result was the comparision shot of the three Viceroys.

On night two, I had added the SB-900 and took around 90 photos of the Black Chronomatic Autavia . . . thrilled that my new toys were working [on some level], but still no interest in reading the instructions [i.e., working with the settings].

To answer some of your questions: My close-up lens is the Nikkor Micro 60mm 1:2.8; I am hand-holding the camera, so no remote release (although I always use a remote release when I am shooting with hot lights); I have the two flashes mounted on Magic Arms, with the flashes aimed at sheets of frosted lucite, that form a three sided frame around the watch (left-back-right); I played with aperture priority and program mode, but did not take notes of the settings that I was using; I was trying to use small aperture, to ensure the good depth of field; no hood on the lens.

So give me some suggestions for shooting session number three, and I will promise to follow your instructions. One point that I should make: I do want bright photos that show all the details of the watch. If we can get some color / drama / mood with the backgrounds, then that's great. But criterion number one is that viewers should see every detail of the watch.

Thanks again for your advice!!

Jeff

++++++++++++++++++++++

: Hi Jeff

: My guess is C

: Drop the power in the speed lights way down or move them farther
: away from the acrylic and adjust settings to match.

: Are you shooting manual or TV?

: What lens are we using and what aperture.

: Does the lens have a hood?

: The composition of the photos is great, don’t change a thing. You
: have no grain so the ISO looks good. Should be 100 for this type
: of thing.

: Are you using a stand?? Remote trigger or delay and are you using
: mirror lockup??

: Remember, watch threads are useless without pics and photo threads
: are useless without settings. :)

: Cheers

: Rob