Creative Ways to Photograph Wedding Rings Using Household Objects

Photos of wedding rings arranged together before they are exchanged are must-have detail shots for every wedding. Wedding photographers are always looking for creative ways to photograph rings. This video by Magic Lens Group takes us through several ways to light the rings incorporating household objects to achieve moody colors and dynamically lit backgrounds.

From hairbrushes and shoehorns to forks and coins, there's a good chance that after watching this video you'll be inspired to look through your kitchen drawers for things that might produce interesting patterns and reflections. Combine these objects with a few simple lights, and the possibilities are endless. Out of the techniques demonstrated in this video, I know I'm definitely going to try using a spray bottle of water to create a magical, dewy effect on the rings. 

If you photograph weddings, experimenting with a few of these setups at home will help you produce some quick and stunning photos for your next wedding. Flexing your creative muscles in this way will create another story for the bride to tell: "You wouldn't believe what the photographer used to get that photo!" There are plenty of complicated setups for crafting beautiful detail shots of rings, but my personal favorites are always the ones that involve making the most out of mundane, everyday objects. Once you master how to produce this style of photo, your setups can be applied to detail shots of other objects as well, such as watches, centerpieces, or a bouquet. 

Do you have anything out of the ordinary that you love to use for this type of detail shot? I'd love to see your photos in the comments below.

Jordan Pinder's picture

Jordan Pinder is a photographer and print artist specializing in outdoor portraits of families, children, and dogs. He is based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Log in or register to post comments
6 Comments

Last year, a friend asked me to produce a set of photos for her, to illustrate a catalogue she was preparing, of jewellery that she had made.
Because I love doing macro, I had a great time - backgrounds were many and varied. One popular approach was controling depth of field, so the background "registered" behind the subject but was softly out of focus and therefore not competing. A dinner menu from a Royal Train - sea shells - the workings of a carriage clock - an antique Mah Jong set - "floating" a pair of earrings in mid air, by suspending them in front of the background on a thin thread and zapping the thread out of the shot in post processing (like getting rid of electricity cables). Most were done as stackshots, with Zerene software and a Cognisys StackShot - this works well on objects like jewellery, with hard edges - you can get tack sharp from the front to the rear of the volume occupied by the jewellery and soft focus almost immediately behind it.

That's really interesting Jean Pierre - I like the idea of suspending something behind the rings from a thread, so that it's out of focus but still recognizable. Perhaps an interesting way to showcase other jewelry the bride is wearing (earrings, etc.).

here my photo rings
https://tookapic.com/adrian_g
what you thing about this macro shoots

Wow! These are all terrific Adrian.Very cool.

I took a few photos of my own ring using pennies and a cheap gold-colored necklace for the bokeh background. Lighting is from a window, and it was all set up on the side of an empty fishtank. I know the focus could be better, but I do think using the pennies and regular cheap necklaces (with metallic chains!) can work really well for an interesting bokeh, especially for gold or rose-gold rings like this.

http://sarahbrigham-photography.weebly.com/uploads/2/3/5/6/23566312/2185...

That's beautiful Sarah. Thanks for the tip on using coins and cheap jewelry - these are often laying around the bride's quarters while she's getting ready.