Lume Guide FAQ

You started your lume guide with 24 watches. Why only 24?

We recently did a contest about Ball watches to showcase how cool and subtly different the lume is on different styles of ball watches. We are starting our guide with the 24 watches from the contest.

How is the guide going to expand over time?

Our hope is that enthusiasts of both BALL watches and photography will want to photograph their watches under similar conditions to create something that’s never been done before, a guide made of actual lume shots that contrasts them to catalog day and night shots. As we get more submissions, we will add the watches to the guide. We hope to have almost all Ball watches by the end of 2010.

How Do I take a lume shot? How good a camera do I need?

Generally anything at 4MP is fine. The lens is the more crucial thing along with a way to do extended time (About 30 seconds) and disable the flash.

What Requirements do you have for the guide?

There are many different kinds of lume shots that are cool, but for the guide we would like the background to be pitch black so the watch is not visible at all. Since a good lume shot often takes over 30 seconds to finish, the second hands should be pulled out so that they are not moving in the photograph. We would like photos in .jpeg form that can be easily cropped to a 500 X 500 pixel picture, and a smaller shot. We are not saying that this is the only way, or even the best way to take a lume shot, it is just the aesthetic standard we are using for the guide. Please no UV or Black lights so that the lume color is exaggerated. If the watch also has conventional lume please charge it before shooting your photo.

Will I get a credit for my lume shot?

Absolutely, if your photo is chosen for a lume shot in the guide, you will have a credit under the watch. You can put your full Name, a nickname, Forum Name, or anonymous. We already have submissions for Aviator Dual Time, and Aviator. One person chose the name he uses on his favorite watch forum, and another chose his real name.

Will I get financial compensation for my photo appearing in the guide?

No. This is just for fun. Please only submit photos you intend for us to use knowing there will not be any financial compensation of any kind.

How do I submit a photo?

You do not have to be a member of any forum to participate, and any Ball forum can be your favorite Forum:

You can send your photos to samanator2002@yahoo.com He will decide if it is a suitable photo to add to the guide, and in many cases will give you constructive feedback to make your photo better.

Will there be a Topper Photo for each watch?

We will try and add lume shots to some new models, or unusual models that we have in stock. That having been said, this guide will mainly rely on individual collector shots. We need you to make this project work!

How often will watches be added?

We hope to be able to add submissions every few weeks. How many we add each time depends on how many additions we get. If we do not get submissions, this project will be a stagnant failure with a depressingly blank 4th column.

How many Collector photos will there be per watch?

To start we will have one photo for each watch. Depending on how the project goes we might expand it down the line. If there is already a collectr shot for the watch you want to photograph on our guide, please submit your photo anyway, we may be able to find a use for it in the future.

Can I submit discontinued watches, or Ball watches that are no longer available?

Right now our focus is on current Ball product that is for sale in the U.S. Market for the Lume guide. This might change over time but we have to start somewhere. If a discontinued watch has special significance (like the "UTC" dial tri-lume nightrain, we may decide to add it.)