360° Photos for 53 Super Bowl Rings + Photographing Historic Football Items

Each item here has a unique tale to tell.

It was an honor this past year to feel connected to one event that brings the American people together, the Super Bowl. Each year, it’s one of the most-watched events of the year, and this year OMS was able to do something unique. We were able to document parts of its history.

For the first time, ESPN worked with OMS Photo and the Pro Football Hall of Fame to capture 360° photos of 53 Super Bowl rings. Also, OMS had the privilege of photographing many other historical items in the museum. The Super Bowl rings have changed a lot of over the years, but they have always been something remarkable. As a spectacular display of jewels and gold, these rings are monuments to the teams who earned them. It felt special to give the world access to see every unique facet of these rings.

The way ESPN has presented the rings has been excellent. With each ring comes a story and additional photos of the people who earned them.

View All the Rings on ESPN

Photographing the rings and notable item

In mid-2019, ESPN was looking for an Ohio based photography company to pull off their idea. Given our history of 360° photography, and nationally known clients, they were confident in our ability to create the final images and complete it promptly. The Pro Football Hall Fame wouldn’t be able to shut down the exhibits to the public. We only had two days to capture all the rings while they were rotated out of the displays and placed in front of our cameras, then quickly put back on display. Thankfully all the visitors to the museum were also excited about the project. This process was the same for the other items we photographed in the museum. Some of the objects we had the privilege to touch (with gloves) have not been handled in years. 

Our Team and Behind the Scenes

Our crew included Paul Lanterman leading the 360° photos, Brent Taylor taking pictures of the historical items, and our assistant Evan Sgouris.

The team did not have time to document much of the shoot. Here follows an image of our set up for the rings we created in our studio and a few behind-the-scenes photos. It was quite a day as we captured over 140 images per ring and over 7500 images in total!

After the shoot was complete, our retouching team hand-reviewed each of the 7500+ images from the photos and touched up the basic look for consistency.

Overall, ESPN and Pro Football Hall of Fame are thrilled with the results. We hope to be involved in other efforts with them in the future.