Wedding Photography - Classic Hand Shots and Rings

I'm pulling this out of the SCU archives because so many of you need help with hand and ring shots.

Actively involved as an administrator in both the Facebook Wedding Forum and Advanced Wedding Photographers Forum, there are too many ring shots being shared that are mediocre.  
 
Well, nobody did a better job photographing rings and hands than my old buddy Don Blair. And, while these classic shots might be twenty years old, they still set the standard. I know this is more about hands than rings, but Don's classic hand shot, showing the rings of the bride and groom, is still one of the best!  

I apologize for the quality of the scans. I no longer have the original images, but they're good enough to make the point. These were scanned from a copy of the book we wrote together, Body Parts. (Contact Marathon Press for more information - I think they still have the ability to print copies.) 

These images and tips should help you create your own classic hand shots. The image with the flowers has always been one of my favorites.

Don's tips were all based on simplicity.
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•  Use a high camera angle.

• Keep the bride's wrist down and remember, the groom's hand is just going to be a prop.

• Roll the ring hand into the lens.

With hands there really is no right or wrong, simply better or best. Don had two great rules for hand shots in general:

• Try to turn the hands so you're photographing them from the side. Try not to show the palm or the back of the hand.

• When his hands and her hands are close together or touching, curl his fingers slightly. With her hands, extending the fingers will add elegance to the image.

From Don Blair's Guide to Lighting and Posing Body Parts
​Images copyright Don Blair and Skip Cohen. All rights reserved.

As a professional photographer, your work ALWAYS needs to be better than "Uncle Harry's." Your clients deserve the very best, and if your attitude is "That's good enough," then you shouldn't be calling yourself a professional.

​Just because it's the "slow season," doesn't mean it has to be slow for you. Now is the time to practice and fine-tune your skill set. Your goal is to always exceed each client's expectations, and you'll never do that if you don't experiment and work to be the finest photographer you can be!