One of the most fun things I get to do during a wedding is find a creative an unique way to photograph the couple's wedding rings. In the past, the one and only way was to position the couple's hands, with their rings, over a bouquet of flowers. It was done so often, the photo became a cliché. Enter the current decade, and we've come a long way, baby. "Hand shots" are no longer on the required shot list. Instead, I get to find a creative way to do the ring shot for each couple, looking over the surroundings and finding something just right.
This moment happened while I was working on another idea while photographing a wedding in Marshfield, Wisconsin. I was outside at the reception venue, the Belvedere, when the sun peaked out, and shone a beam of light right on this pine bough. I positioned the rings on it, and knew, immediately, this was The Shot.
The sun reflected off the rings, and the dark background of deep woods made the image even more dramatic.
Yes, I'll do a Hand Shot if the couple really, truly wants one (sometimes, to mimic a photo found in a parent's album, so the couple has a side-by-side comparison image, for example) but usually, I try to find something more interesting, and more exciting. Sometimes it's dramatic. Sometimes subtle. And it's always fun.
Location: M329 Hwy 97, Marshfield, WI.
1/320; f/5.6; ISO 800; 70.0 mm.