A Simple Method To Easily Light Wedding Rings & Detail Shots

Hanssie

One of my favorite parts of the wedding day is getting the detail shots while the bride is getting ready. Because bridal prep always runs late, I find myself with ample time to get creative with my detail shots. Sometimes there isn’t always a great place with good light to photograph the wedding rings, watches, jewelry.  The following method is a fast and simple way to photograph the detail shots, and the results are fantastic.

Developed by Paul Keppel in a method he coined, the Keppelling Method, Paul gets consistently lit, beautiful ring and detail shots with just a shiny or reflective surface, a macro lens, and an inexpensive YongNuo YN-160 LED video light. He discovered the technique almost by accident while photographing rings on a piano. While trying to balance his light and handhold his camera as still as possible to get sharp images (wedding photographers know this struggle well), he placed the light on the piano with the barn doors down. In this lightbulb moment, as he describes it in his blog post, Paul got this shot:

Paul Keppel Photography 27 Keppelling wedding ring Method

[REWIND: 10 WEDDING RING MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS]

Here is the setup of the light tent Paul makes with his Yongnuo:

Paul Keppel Photography 29 Keppelling wedding ring Method

Here are more samples of the Keppelling Method with rings and other pieces of jewelry:

Paul Keppel Photography 31 Keppelling wedding ring Method

www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk
www.paulkeppel.co.uk

Paul explains this method and shows how he sets it up in detail in the video below. Be sure to check out Paul Keppel’s website to see more of his work.

[From Babalu Films on Vimeo].

CREDITS: Photographs by Paul Keppel are copyrighted and have been used with permission for SLR Lounge. Do not copy, modify or re-post this article or images without express permission from SLR Lounge and the artist.

RELATED POSTS

10 Tips on How to Speed Up Lightroom

July 18, 2025

As the years have gone by, Adobe has consistently improved upon the...

Imagen Brings Its AI Editing Tools to Video Post-Production

July 18, 2025

Imagen, one of the best-known companies for speeding up photo-editing workflows with...

Natural Light Vs Flash: Budget Studio Edition

July 17, 2025

Each time we step on-location for a photo session, we need to make the...

bridal portraits posing feature

Bridal Portraits Tips, Ideas, and Inspiration

July 17, 2025

If you've ever looked at a wedding timeline, then you know that...