One of my favorite aspects of wedding photography is shooting all the small details that make up the often overlooked parts of the event. While it’s important for a creative photographer to cover all aspects of the wedding it’s also important to cover the more overlooked pieces that make up a wedding. One of those parts is the wedding ring. In this shot I wanted to convey the beauty of the bride and grooms wedding rings in a very creative way. I also wanted to make to viewer aware of the fun that took place during the wedding. Yes by fun I mean the drinking. By placing the wedding rings on the bottle of Fireball that was being passed around during the wedding reception I was able to create a unique detail photograph. While it’s entirely possible that a viewer of this photo may not be able to draw the connection between the wedding rings and the booze, I’m sure that the bride and groom who were involved in the drinking aspect of the reception partying will remember the moment. Just to be safe and make sure the couple had a useable shot I also photographed this image against a more traditional, reasonable background. This way they have a choice.
When shooting wedding rings I find that it’s usually important to make sure the entire ring is in sharp focus. In order to achieve this I used a special macro photography lens that I bring to weddings just for close-up photography. This lens also comes in very handy for photographing earrings, cufflinks and other small items. If you are a photographer who is reading this here is some more information about this creative wedding ring photograph. I shot this with a Canon 5D Mark 3 and a 50mm F2.5 Macro Lens. The F-Stop used was F13. While photographing this I tested several different f-Stops until I arrived at the f-stop that allowed enough light to enter the lens with a small enough lens opening that allowed the entire wedding ring to remain sharp. I also tested several different iso settings. I always try to select the lowest possible iso in order to produce the clearest image. However, sometimes the lowest iso isn’t all that low. In this case iso 4000 did the trick. I’m sure many photographers who read this may be thinking, 4000 iso! That is not a low iso. However, considering the small lens opening and the fact that I used natural wedding reception light and some bounce flash, this is the lowest iso setting possible to achieve this image. In addition the Canon 5D Mark III with it’s full frame image sensor still produced a tack sharp image with the minimum amount of camera noise. Having photographed hundreds of South Florida weddings I have learned that using a high iso will still give wonderful results as long as the exposure settings during the photography are set perfectly. Taking a high iso image that is underexposed and making if lighter after the fact will completely destroy an image. It’s got to be perfectly exposed in camera.
Thank you for viewing this image. I hope you as the viewer find this wedding ring photo both creative and beautiful. If you love this shot please feel free to send me a note. Also, to see more of my wedding photography visit my Instagram feed and feel free to cruise my website.
If you are a bride or groom planning a wedding here in South Florida I would love to talk with you. I’m based in Boynton Beach, which is just north of Boca Raton. However, I photograph weddings all over South Florida. If you are tying the knot in Miami, Delray Beach, The Florida Keys or Fort Lauderdale I would love to chat.
I can be reached at (561) 737-5561
Jeff
Location: 10 N Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach, FL 33483.