Photographing bridal details are some of my most favorite moments on the wedding day. Before all the hustle and bustle, I take all the details to a quiet place, with beautiful window light, and lay out everything on a styling board. It is super important to avoid photograpy pet hates, especially when it comes to anything to do with weddings, and photographing small details, like jewelry, can be challenging, so here are a few tips to photographing wedding rings!
Tip #1- Find Natural Light
When photographing rings, finding great, natural light is key. If you are one to backlight your subjects often, don’t do this with jewelry. It’ll leave the diamonds looking dull, and diamonds are suppose to be sparkly! So front-light or side-light your diamonds to keep that light on them.
Tip #2- Materials
When staging rings, it’s definitely helpful to have a few materials on hand. Start with a clean background and photograph the rings alone. Then bring in ribbons, lace, a ring box, or florals to give the photo something extra. I also love using calligraphed paper or the brides veil under the rings. Have the couple provide these materials in a bridal bag (read about Bridal Bags HERE). To get those photos of the rings standing up, use double sided tape or museum putty to keep the rings in place.
Tip #3- Use a Macro Lens
It’s pretty difficult to photograph those beautiful diamonds up close without a macro lens. For me, since I only use my macro lens for detail photos, I bought the Sigma 105mm 2.8 which works beautifully but isn’t as expensive as the Nikon or Canon brand (you can view a list of my gear HERE). When shooting on my medium format camera, I use Hoya filters attached to my lens to give the same effect. I always shoot using manual focus with my macro lens. This helps me get the focus EXACTLY where I want to get it. I also experiment with different apertures! I shoot at 2.8, 4.0, 5.6 or even higher. Depends on if I want just the diamonds in focus, or all the rings!
Now get shooting! If you are interested in more photography tips, click here!
