: I've tried and tried and accepted defeat. I think the shear magic
: of the metallic cannot be captured electronically. Same for the
: 2446SF Mareograph/Seafarer/Solunar...
: Maybe John Cote could show us how it's done. Challenge!.. Raw
: required, no post processing!

Jurgen,

Why no post processing? I have said before here that every image I take get's post processed before I ever show it to anybody. That includes iPhone pix. That doesn't mean that I put something in or take something out. It doesn't mean that I fix flaws.

Cameras don't see that way a human being sees. A camera has a lens and a sensor/film. A human being has eyes and a brain. A sensor is thoughtless. A brain does its own processing...whether you like it or not. To get a photo from a camera to look like what your brain sees post processing is almost always required. This doesn't mean you make thinks look better than reality...it means you make photos look real.

From the photo standpoint, what I would do to make the dial look better on this shot is to light it from the side(s) and put something above it to reflect dark on the crystal...either a black or a dark grey card. To see the effect take a watch and put it in window light and hold a black or a dark grey colored card above it until the card reflects in the dial/crystal. You won't need a camera to see the effect.

JohnCote