Wedding Rings (off-camera flash)

I had some time last night to photogphe a youg couple's wedding rings (or engagement rings??)

I had something in mind and partially achieved it - but not quite what I had in mind. Probably my biggest issue is that the rings are relatively small in the photo (?) and it was difficult to light them well while keeping the spill off the candle and flower.

Used 15-54mm and cactus v2 to trigger an off-camera fl-50 in 2nd curtin mode. I did some post-processing work to hide some of the light spill.





By the way, the 14-54's close focusing distance is very nice!
Any suggestions are welcomed.

really nice! though the rings don't stand out as much as i would have liked.

the rings aren't prominent enough..make them look bigger..
smaller candle..get closer to the rings maybe...

Peace,
John
--

'The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. ' George Bernard Shaw

'Believe Nothing, no matter where you read it
or who has said it, not even if I have said it,
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I like what you have produced, but I can see how you want more. While others prefer the B/W version, I much prefer the colour one. I also quite like the reflection. Part of me wishes you had taken a portrait oriented shot, and kept the full reflection in the frame.

Sadly, I don't know any magic way to readjust the scaling in this shot. My attempts at jewelry photography have not even made it to where you are now. I can believe you when you say it is not easy.

For my attempts, I made a poor man's light box out of sheets of paper and lit it using my FL36R wirelessly. This gave me some chance at getting even illumination without impossible highlights, but in the end it failed to deliver.

All I can suggest to do is keep trying. When you've worked it out, let us all know!

Hi there,

I just want to say thank you for the nice image. I like the first one more, the second one is not really for me.

RightRudder said:

I had something in mind and partially achieved it - but not quite
what I had in mind.

Click to expand...

What did you had in mind?

RightRudder said:

Probably my biggest issue is that the rings are
relatively small in the photo (?) and it was difficult to light them
well while keeping the spill off the candle and flower.

Used 15-54mm and cactus v2 to trigger an off-camera fl-50 in 2nd
curtin mode. I did some post-processing work to hide some of the
light spill.

By the way, the 14-54's close focusing distance is very nice!
Any suggestions are welcomed.

Click to expand...

I have a few suggestions, I hope it's OK coming from an amateur like me...

1. Use a scratchfree, trasparent plexi glass sheet under setup to get more reflection.

2. Make sure the reflection is not cut out of the image. I'd prefer less of the top then the reflection cut.

3. Try to get less DOF. I don't know which aperture you used, try play with the distance / focal length / aperture. I think it would be best if you moved closer to the ring and if the lens was at 54mm. If you move closer the rings will appear larger and the DOF will decrease.

4. The 50/2 macro would be better for the purpose. Wide open you could get better DOF, I'd prefer the candle and the BG more OOF.

Sorry if all that are obvious, but since you asked for suggestions...

Thank you for sharing anyway.
--
http://www.olyflyer.blogspot.com/

RightRudder said:

I had some time last night to photogphe a youg couple's wedding rings
(or engagement rings??)

Click to expand...

RightRudder said:

Used 15-54mm and cactus v2 to trigger an off-camera fl-50 in 2nd
curtin mode. I did some post-processing work to hide some of the
light spill.

Click to expand...

You didn't mention what camera body you used and I am assuming it is a more recent model with Live View.

I suggest mounting the camera on a tripod and use live view to compose the shot. A low wattage reading lamp or battery powered flash light from one side may be used as a modeling lamp so as not to over power the candle's illumination. Lamp from the side would illuminate the ring and not the background.

I would try shooting with the candle as the sole light source first. You need to adjust WB to achieve the desired color. Use manual exposure (M). Some experimentation needed. Exposure of more than 1 second is needed at ISO 100. Shoot at different shutter speeds and select the best result.

In live view, arrange either the candle or ring to achieve the best illumination and reflection. Only if you can't get the desired effect would I suggest the lamp on the side.

Make sure there is no draft in the room to prevent the candle's flame moving too much.

Give it another try and post the results.

Good luck.

Trevor

olyflyer said:

1. Use a scratchfree, trasparent plexi glass sheet under setup to get
more reflection.

Click to expand...

A piece of plexi is a useful tool in weddings ...

seen it used even to create a reflection on a bride at the alter shot, just by placing it below the lens.

olyflyer said:

2. Make sure the reflection is not cut out of the image. I'd prefer
less of the top then the reflection cut.

3. Try to get less DOF. I don't know which aperture you used, try
play with the distance / focal length / aperture. I think it would be
best if you moved closer to the ring and if the lens was at 54mm. If
you move closer the rings will appear larger and the DOF will
decrease.

4. The 50/2 macro would be better for the purpose. Wide open you
could get better DOF, I'd prefer the candle and the BG more OOF.

Click to expand...

also, Kinda like the small flash light idea (I normally have one with me) that was suggested by another.
hmmm, might try that one.
HG

--

Please feel free to criticize, make suggestions, and edit any of my photos & re-post, to help show me 'the way'. * I am trying to Elevate the Level of my 'Snap Shots'

Love f2 Oly lens wide open ... 14-35mm f2, & a 50mm f2+1.4TC is my fav. combo on two 'IS' oly bodys.

There seems to be too much dead space on the right. Although I like the image a lot, well captured.

--
Raj Sarma
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rssarma
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This is a comment, not a criticism (I'm not worthy of criticizing!)

I'll admit to an obsession with diamonds, and this photo doesn't do much for the diamond. Perhaps there would have been some way to set it to sparkle a bit?

--
Gene H. Chan
Burnaby, BC, Canada

@ chuckielpn and johnnyrush

• yes, the rings not being prominent enough was what I also thought as the biggest issue (considering this was supposed to be a photo of the rings and not just a photo that had rings in it).
• getting closer to the ring and useing smaller candles shoudl help. I'll try it.

@ anomalous

• thanks for the encouraging words. I'll try again based on feedback.

@ olyflyer

• i'm also an amateur and will consider all suggestions - thank you for that
• i tried to get a photo of the rings with a candle/flower in the background, out of photos; Candles would self-illuminated and fings illuminated by flash. Tried to avoid spill from the flash but make the flash large enough to cover "all family of angles" of the rings. Something like that.

• (1.) I had no transparent plexi so I used the glass from a photo frame and layed it on top of a black cloth. The black cloth wasn't really "black" but more like dark navy blue. Also using a scratch-free plexiglass should help.
• (2.) reflection out of image would probably make the image more "complete", I agree.
• (3.) less depth of field you suggested should help blurry the background candle and distract less from the rings in foreground. Will definetly try it.
• thanks again for all suggestions!

@shutter2533

• interesting, I did not consider not using flash for the rings. As described above, I wanted (a.) the candle to be illuminated by its own burning flame (b.) wanted the rings to be lit by auxiliary light [i was thinking flash-only] taht was large enough to cover all "family of angles" (as described in the " Light: Science and Magic" book) yet small and directional enough to not spill any more light on the candle. So i snooted the flash wihch was fired in 2nd curtin after the exposure was long enough for the candle.
• as you suggested, i used live view E3 and a tripod.
• white balance I did not even think about - good advice.
• using the candle light as the only source of light was not sufficied enough to light the rings and still maintain my desired exposure for the candle.
• will surely try again and see what comes out.

@Hawaii-geek

• thanks for confirming the plexiglass. Might need to get one of those.

@rssarma

• yes there is dead space on the right. that's partly intentional because I did not want anything directly behind the rings so as to not further make the rings "get lost".
• since there is a lot of dead space on upper right I think i could try changing to a lower perspective on the rings which would "raise" the rings and make them bigger and fill some of the empty space.

@BCRCornet

• funny .. .i wonder if someone would comment on one of the most evident shortcomings: the diamond doesn't sparkle at all That would be a tough one considering all the other things and frankly, i don't really have an idea how to make the diamaon sparkle and not spill the light (don't want to create a composite of multiple shots). Thanks.

thanks to all, will try again in the future and post the results.

RightRudder said:

• using the candle light as the only source of light was not

sufficied enough to light the rings and still maintain my desired
exposure for the candle.

Click to expand...

RightRudder said:

• funny .. .i wonder if someone would comment on one of the most

evident shortcomings: the diamond doesn't sparkle at all That
would be a tough one considering all the other things and frankly, i
don't really have an idea how to make the diamaon sparkle and not
spill the light (don't want to create a composite of multiple shots).

Click to expand...

There are some problems with the composition and relative position of the objects.

1) The rings were insufficiently illuminated to the point that I did not notice the diamond till you mentioned it. It will not sparkle in the position you had it. The diamond must be in a position to receive direct light from the candle or supplementary light. You may need to get creative and use adhesive tape or pads to hold the ring so that the diamond is on top or place the ring down flat and have the diamond face a light source.

2) The candle flame is too high relative to the rings so they are not getting sufficient illumination. The ring without diamond is positioned such that the candle light goes through it and not illuminate the wide surfaces.

3) suggest using a jewelry box or some other prop to raise the height of the rings to receive more light from the candle. The flame is sunk in the candle and light is not getting out to the level of the rings.

4) Flash is a momentary light source and you cannot visualize the effect before taking the shot. That's why I suggested a constant light source that you can evaluate in Live View. Move the objects and light source around till you get a sparkle from the diamond.

Trevor

Don't rule out placing the rings behind the candle.

May have to shoot from a slightly higher vantage point.

--
Trevor