back-lighting with flash for dramatic silhouetted wedding portraits

One of the easiest ways to create dramatic light for a silhouette when photographing the wedding portraits, is to add a flash behind the couple. The beauty of this is that there is a fair amount of leeway as to what would work. We need not be all that exact, but there are some a few things we should check …

1. The distance of the flash behind the couple – a few feet.

2. Set the flash to a wide zoom angle for the flash-head. Flipping the diffuser panel down, or using a diffuser cup, would also help spread the light.

3. Tilt the flash up by about 45 degrees.

4. It is best we don’t put the flash on the ground directly behind the couple, because if the flash comes from below them, the light tends to over-expose large areas of the underside of their faces and chins. Not ideal.  So it helps in elevating the flash off the ground. A small tripod is best.

There is more to this. I was using the PocketWizard TT5 units, and they don’t respond well if the receiving unit is on the ground. The receiver needs to be elevated to receive the entire radio wave from the sender. So I knew from experience (and one or two test shots here), that I had best elevate the flash anyway.

In the example above, I told my assistant to crouch down behind them wile holding the flash (and wireless receiver) in her hand. My instruction was to “be small” as she crouched so that she wouldn’t appear in the frame.

5. Manual flash settings make the most sense. TTL flash metering isn’t really of help here, since your camera won’t be directly metering the area lit by the flash. The flash exposure will mostly be rim-lighting, and not lighting your subjects from the front. The manual flash settings – try 1/4 power or 1/8th power or even 1/16 power, depending on your aperture and ISO.

My settings for the photo above:
1/30 @ f4 @ 1600 ISO  … lens zoomed to 30mm
My settings were based on the need to have some detail in the wedding reception venue behind the couple.  Then I added flash. Simple.

My flash was gelled with a 1/2 CTS gel.

Since the building is well-lit, there was also the option to not use flash, and just have the natural silhouette, without the flash adding the rim-light.

My settings for the photo above:
1/40 @ f2.8 @ 2500 ISO  - hand-held, lens zoomed to 24mm

And just for comparison, here is the same setup, but lit from the front.

My settings for the photo above:
1/40 @ f2.8 @ 2500 ISO  - hand-held, lens zoomed to 24mm
My flash was gelled with a 1/2 CTS gel.

Here I had my assistant hold a white umbrella aloft, with the shaft of the umbrella pointing at the couple. She also held the flash aloft in her other hand, bouncing into the umbrella. While this image works, for me, it just lacks the dramatic impact of the image at the top. However, it is a photo I would include to show the couple, just to give them the option.

more articles about wedding photography

more images from this wedding can be seen in the album on Facebook.

equipment used during this photo session:

Nikon D3S  (B&H);  Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 AF-S (B&H)
(2x) Nikon SB-900 (B&H);  Nikon SD-9 battery pack (B&H)
PocketWizard FlexTT5 transceiver (B&H)
45″ white satin umbrella (B&H)

photography books by Neil vN

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