Ring shot ideas

[Jeff Cook]

I am trying to gather some thoughts for ring shots. I usually do a push into them, or a slider shot. What do you guys do when shooting the rings. I would like to be more creative than I am currently in this regard. Thanks for your ideas. Oh by the way, have you ever left the shot out of a wedding trailer? I have seen some high profile videographers who do not always show the rings in the wedding trailer.

[Robert Benda]

It's always nice to have a couple of basic ideas (for any situation) in your bag of tricks.

Don't forget there are two kinds of motion: move the camera, via slider or tripod; or movement in the shot.

I can't find the link but once saw a great shot where the rings were in a custom box, filling about 1/3 the shot, after 3 seconds or so they were picked up and carried away from the camera, out the hotel room door by the best man. No camera movement, all in frame. Made a great transition from the 'getting ready' over to the church.

Somewhere there is a video someone here posted of a high-end guy where the rings are falling off of these big palm leaves, down to the ground. Slow motion.

I've done a 'generations' shot with the bride, her mom, and grandma with their hands out, each with their ring.

Here is a Joe Simon shot where the rings are sitting on a piece of glass that is reflecting the clouds rolling by in a bright, blue sky (skip to 4:18)

Amanda & Stephen's Wedding Highlights - Boston on Vimeo

Here is a pan down using a macro by me (so, obviously, not as skillfully done as most could do). Skip to 1:52

Teaser for Mike and Tina on Vimeo

[Noa Put]

Somewhere there is a video someone here posted of a high-end guy where the rings are falling off of these big palm leaves, down to the ground. Slow motion.

I"m pretty sure you are referring to Bob Nicolas, those guys are visual artists, the way they sometimes do the ringshot is pretty unique, below is an example at the start of the video.

Nico and Myka on Vimeo

[Adrian Tan]

Just wanted to add some comments on the Joe Simon and Bob Nicolas videos.

Joe Simon: possibly this shot was done after prep, since he seems to have all three rings (and groups the bride's rings together). One thing to watch out for with this sort of shot is the cleanliness of the reflective surface.

Bob Nicolas: I think that might be the most nuts ring shot I've seen; thanks for posting, Noa. Note that all three rings are together again, and it's apparently outdoors, so this was probably done during photoshoot. I'm assuming what he did was put the rings together in a gauzy bag, and drop them close to the bride's back, using the FS700 handheld. When combined with a camera rotation, the shot initially gives the illusion that the rings are moving horizontally rather than vertically.

Random other notes on the videos:

-- I feel for Joe Simon during the ceremony. No decent shot of couple's faces, and blocked during the wine-glass stamp.
-- Daring quadcopter at 1:30 by Bob Nicolas, flying pretty close to the top of the church and also flying backwards (the car in the scene appears to be moving in the right direction, so I don't think the shot was reversed).

[Jeff Cook]

Thanks for the ideas, all look great. Robert, I think the rings falling upon the leaves in slow motion was done by Jason Magbanua.

[Ralph Gereg]

Originally Posted by Adrian Tan

Bob Nicolas: I think that might be the most nuts ring shot I've seen; thanks for posting, Noa. Note that all three rings are together again, and it's apparently outdoors, so this was probably done during photoshoot. I'm assuming what he did was put the rings together in a gauzy bag, and drop them close to the bride's back, .

I'm finding this conversation very interesting with lots of ideas for getting some interesting motion from otherwise static items....

When I viewed this ring shot, It looked to me like he picked up the end of the Bride's veil to create a kind of a pocket to drop the rings into... then slowly lower/drop the end of the veil and the rings will kind of roll along the surface of the dress as they move down within the "pocket" in the veil.

[Malcolm Debono]

Some very interesting ideas here. I usually integrate the rings with other items such as shoes (if they're good looking) or the flowers (again depending on colours, etc.). The right shoes make for some interesting shots depending on colour, decor (such as having I Do written beneath), heels, etc. Apart from this I also keep my eyes open for anything out of the ordinary - last month, before Christmas, I was shooting preps and noticed that souvenirs were love messages which could be hanged to the Christmas tree, so I've placed the rings there and got some pretty creative shots.

[Rob Cantwell]

i'm sure it was mentioned here before, I have used, to some degree of success the rings arranged in the fold of a book, and move a light around them so that the shadows cast a heart shape on the end of the rotation of the light!
Its a quick and easy thing to do.

[Peter Rush]

I do that one Rob - I get the couple to bring the rings to the rehearsal and shoot them in the fold of a bible and put my light on my slider.

[Adrian Tan]

One thing I stumbled upon recently is a conversation on a (Filipino) women's forum between brides and potential brides: All About Photographers and Videographers Part 10.

What astonishes me is the level of knowledge about different videographers, the implication that these brides are watching and comparing a lot of wedding films for fun and the fact that ring shots are getting noticed as a thing.

Note also that the first speaker mentions camera type! Don't know how many Australian brides could do that. Presumably it's from following a videographer's blog. Or maybe she has inside knowledge. Who knows...

To be honest, I almost wish that brides didn't notice ring shots. I don't think the ring shot and the dress shot should be expected set pieces disconnected from the video, but maybe that evolution was inevitable.

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crystal_ice:

i've noticed recently that some videographers have added features in their videos:

Treehouse - those wide angle aerial shots are fun to watch.
Bob Nicolas - has perfected the art of slowmo. also the colors now are more vivid and bright. thanks to sony's new FS camera i guess. ;)
Jason Magbanua - his ring shots are just amazing. also features slow motion in his vids. plus he's jason magbanua. nuff said. ;)
Cinemaworks - watching his vids make you feel like you're watching a movie
Mayad - their videos are becoming more elegant with a lot of feminine touch. master of destination weddings. that's why they're so popular with the chinese abroad.

in any case future brides are really lucky to book these videographers. their sde's will be much better than the previous ones. only downside is you get to pay higher. :P

akesanchez:

^weee! Treehouse story bride! :) i also love their ring shots. its just amazing! :) Nice compilation of what makes these videographers stand out.

crystal_ice:

a friend of mine also booked them when they were just starting 3 years ago. patrick's very creative in making those ring shots. plus all 4 of them are fun to shoot with. makukulit lalo na si alesi.

and now they're one of the top and most sought videographers in the country. just a few more experience and tweeks and they'll be in line with the top 3 (JM, Bob & Mayad). :)

vhanya:

I got an amazing ring shot from Mayad. First time nila yata may ganun :)

[Tim Bakland]

I love that the Joe Simon video is of Tom Werner('s daughter).

Yes, just any old video from Joe Simon -- and it happens to be the wedding video of the Boston Red Sox co-owner's daughter.