As a Northwest Arkansas wedding photographer, I don’t have access to a lot of clean/low horizons. Our rolling hills and tall trees make it hard to get those classic silhouette photography work that clients love. And while there is always the option of getting a couple up high while you shoot low, this drastic angle can sometimes be undesirable. Also, sometimes you don’t have the ability to go outside at all. Because of this, I started using a technique I call “silhouette from nowhere”.
Silhouette Photography Behind the Scenes
The idea is pretty simple. For a silhouette, all you need is a subject to be framed in an area that is much brighter than whatever light is on the subject. In general, this is done by framing a subject in the sky. But, what if we made our own bright spot with off-camera flash?
By doing this, we can essentially make any surface brighter than our subject and create a silhouette. All you need is a surface you can light and the ability to produce a light brighter than whatever is lighting our subject.
Silhouette Photography Gear Setup
Now there are many ways you can achieve this, but I have my go-to setup that almost always gets the job done. First, I almost always use my Flashpoint eVOLV 200 Pro. This is the light I use for almost everything I do. I then pair this light with three MagMod modifiers.
The first modifier is a MagGel. I almost always add some form of color to my light when doing this. Next up is the MagSphere, but I’m not using this the way it was designed to spread light everywhere. Instead, I’m using it to shape my light into a circle by aiming it directly at the surface. Without the Magsphere, the shape of the light would be more rectangular like the flash head.
Lastly, I’ll sometimes use a MagGrid. What this does is give me a smaller circle of light from the Magsphere of the pattern of light is too wide or falling onto things I don’t want (such as pillars or ceilings). For similar solutions, you can also check out the Flashpoint Round Head Flash Accessory Kit.
Share Your Silhouettes
And that’s the basics for how to do silhouette photography from nowhere. I hope you found this helpful and are inspired to get out and give it a try. If you share any images using this technique, use #Silhouettefromnowhere and #Flashpointlighting. If you have any questions about this process, drop me a DM on Instagram @Vinsonimages_Jason
Written by Jason Vinson
Feature photo by Jason Vinson