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As a wedding photographer, it’s a given that you will include wedding ring photos in your shot list. After all, they deserve a spotlight of their own! Since they are a symbol of their love, your bride and groom will want to show off their rings too, and it’s your job to get those perfect wedding rings shots! Sure, pictures of wedding rings on fingers look great, but you can do so much more. Using creative backdrops, placing rings on props, experimenting with lighting – there are many ways to bring out the real shine of your couple’s wedding rings. However, capturing a great photograph of a wedding ring is no easy task. Wedding ring photography is all about the details and also going wide sometimes — you just need to experiment. If you are looking for more ways to get creative with wedding ring photography, then these 10 wedding ring photography ideas could be sources of inspiration.

10 Creative Wedding Ring Photography Ideas To Inspire You

1. Look for Reflections

A pear-shaped wedding ring placed on a reflective surface
Image Credit @brandiallysephoto

If you are looking for a simple yet impactful way to photograph the ring, using a reflective surface is one wedding photography idea you might find practical. Plus, you don’t really have to spend too much time looking for a reflective surface at a wedding venue. Whether it’s a shiny table or a mirror – wipe down the surface to ensure there are no marks or dirt before placing the rings. ShootDotEdit customer Brandi Allyse Salerno does a fantastic job as she uses this technique to bring all the focus to the diamond. To check out more of her work, head to her Instagram or Facebook.

2. Go with the Classic Couple Portrait

A classic couple portrait during the engagement session
Image Credit @christinandchris

The soon-to-be bride smiling, the soon-to-be groom possibly cracking a joke in her ear or saying some sweet nothings – we can’t tell if this image by ShootDotEdit customers Christin and Chris Hume is a candid or a posed moment. Either way, we love how the ring gets its own corner in this composition. This wedding ring photography idea is great for when you want to include your couples in the photograph while also giving the ring it’s own space to shine. Want to see more of Christin and Chris’s work? Check out their Instagram.

3. Include Cultural Elements

Wedding rings placed over heena tattooed hands
Image Credit @jorgesantiagophoto

You may not find different cultural elements at every wedding you photograph, but if you do come across something that stands out or is unique to that culture, then try to see if you can photograph the ring with it. In this photo, ShootDotEdit customer Jorge Santiago brilliantly uses the bride’s intricate henna tattoos as a background for the photo of the rings. We also love how they are perfectly balanced on the bride’s pinky fingers! For more photos from wedding traditions from different cultures, check out Jorge’s Instagram and Facebook.

4. Goofy is Great

Couples posing for an engagement session
Image Credit @davidnsachs

You are your couple’s storyteller. They rely on you to show their bond through photos and also bring out their best sides in those moments. If your couple likes to get goofy, then let them have fun! Guide them through different poses that focus on the fun element and also bring out the shine of the ring. For example, in this photograph, ShootDotEdit customer David N. Sachs effortlessly brings out the fun side of this couple while also giving us a glimpse of the ring. This idea for wedding ring photography is great for couples who want to have a fun session with each other and for wedding photographers who don’t mind having some fun on the job too. For more photos from David, head to his Instagram and Facebook.

5. It’s All About the Angles

A bride's hands placed at the back of the groom as she hugs him
Image Credit @infiniteloopphoto

Now, this is a different way to bring out the wedding ring! While posing the couple face to face and strategically placing the hands in a way that the wedding rings are in clear view is the classic way to do it, you could also experiment with angles. Playing with different angles – whether it is your couple or the ring – is another great wedding ring photography idea you can experiment with. With the soon-to-be groom’s back to the camera and the soon-to-be bride’s hands on his back, ShootDotEdit customer Jerry Cantave instantly drives focus to the wedding ring on her finger. For more creative wedding ring photography ideas, check out his Instagram.

6. Experiment with Black and White

Black and white portrait of a couple showing their rings as the groom hugs the bride from the back and the bride holds his hand
Image Credit @tracylynn.photo

Black and white photos are truly timeless and classic, and we are pretty sure that they will never go out of style. While colorful photographs make a photograph look vibrant, a black and white photo tells a different story. A photo of your couple embracing each other is always a great addition to the shot list! But did you know that when it comes to showing off the wedding rings, this pose is still a great choice? For example, in the above photograph, ShootDotEdit customer Tracy Lynn does a great job as she shows her couples embracing while also making sure that their rings are visible. It’s subtle, it works, and it looks beautiful! Head to her Instagram to see more of her gorgeous photos.

Suggested Read: Black and White Wedding Photos: Why They Are Timeless

7. Get Creative with Backgrounds

Three wedding rings placed over a handwritten letter
Image Credit @lovebyjoemac

Experimenting with backgrounds and foregrounds is another creative wedding ring photography idea you can use to up your game. Textures and patterns work beautifully behind a ring, but if you can’t find anything fancy, look for a newspaper or another piece of paper with something written on it (like the image above). Placing the ring in the bride’s bouquet or on her dress would also make for pretty photos. But remember that your goal is to make the rings shine brighter, so make sure that your backgrounds are not too striking or vibrant. ShootDotEdit customer Joseph McFetridge makes an interesting choice with the background for this picture of the wedding rings together. To see more of his work, head to his Instagram and Facebook.

8. Use Food Items

Wedding rings placed over a cupcake with frosting with bokeh effect in the background
Image Credit @amybennettphoto

Who said the food was just for eating? Stacks of cookies, cupcakes, the wedding cake – think of any food item, and you could probably think of a wedding ring photography idea based on it too. As yummy as this cupcake looks, we are in awe of the wedding rings that ShootDotEdit customer Amy Bennett decided to place on top of it. Even though the baker did a great job, the addition of the rings on the top is literally the icing on the cake in this photo. Check out Amy’s beautiful work on her Instagram and Facebook.

9. Hand in Hand

Close up shot of a couple's hand placed over each other
Image Credit @sierrasolisphotography

Hand in hand, your couple is about to begin a new journey together. And what better way to capture the wedding rings than to focus on the hands? Whether you take a wide shot or come in tight, these photographs tend to look beautiful either way. The best part? You can always find a way to show the ring in these photos. They might be more evident in some, but even when there’s just a slight glimpse of the ring, like in this photograph by ShootDotEdit customer Sierra Solis, it’s still all about the ring. Head to her Instagram to see more gorgeous photos like this one.

10. Show the Love

Mid-close up shot a couple posing together with the guy kissing the girl on the forehead
Image Credit @looyengaphoto

Nothing wrong with a little color-coordination! Another wedding ring photography idea for when you want to keep it simple but special is this image by ShootDotEdit customer Brent Looyenga. You don’t always have to go all out to get those shiny photographs. Simply capturing your couple in their element could also lead to some pretty amazing photographs that not only show off their love but also give a peek at that ring. Check out Brent’s Instagram and Facebook for more inspirational photos!

Suggested Read: Wedding Photo Ideas: Inspiration From ShootDotEdit Customers

Quick Tips For Wedding Ring Photography

We hope that the above wedding ring photography ideas offer you some inspiration for what you can do for your next couple. However, even though some of them might seem fairly simple, below are a few quick tips on how to ensure that you get that perfect image every time.

  • Get creative: Use other pieces of jewelry, fancy shoes, and champagne flutes as backgrounds or props for your wedding ring photos.
  • Use more people: Ask the ring bearer and flower girl to pose with the rings in their hands. You could even hand the ring to the bridesmaids and groomsmen for some photographs.
  • Experiment with lights: If practical, use different light sources as you photograph the wedding rings. Equally distributing some LED lights behind the rings could give you the perfect bokeh effect.
  • Get the details: Many wedding rings have intricate details that only the bride and groom may be aware of. They could be engraved, or the stones might be placed in a certain pattern, figure it out, and document it.
  • Take a lot of photos: Remember that you may not get the final picture in one go, so as you experiment with different angles, colors and backgrounds – take lots of pictures. This will increase your chances of finding at least 2-3 photos that are just perfect.

When it comes to wedding ring photography ideas, there’s no right or wrong. It all depends on you, your couple, and of course, how creative you are. As a wedding photographer, taking pictures of wedding rings is a part of your job, so even if you can’t come up with unique wedding ring photo ideas every time, keep practicing, and soon enough, you will be a pro at wedding ring photography too! Just remember that you don’t always have to go over the top. Sometimes, even the simple wedding ring shots make for breathtaking photos. In the end, it’s all about impressing your couples by making their rings shine bright (literally!).

Further Read: 30 Must-Have Wedding Ceremony Shots To Add To Your Shot List

At ShootDotEdit, we aim to help inspire you as you explore different aspects of wedding photography. To ensure that you have time to dedicate to honing your skills, we also help lessen your workload by taking the editing work off your plate. To learn more about how we can help your wedding photography business, take a look at our price plans.


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