Shooting Silhouettes

Silhouettes can make an interesting alternative to standard images. Learning to shoot silhouettes is a great way to get more creative with your photography. They are relatively simple to do so long as you have the right conditions in which to shoot and look for the right subjects. In this short guide we are going to be looking at the key points as to what makes great silhouette photography, rather than getting too technical about it.

Choosing Your Subject
The key firstly is to choose a subject with strong, recognisable shapes. If there is more than one shape in the subject, the two shapes need to be separated, or it may become a challenge for the viewer of the image later on to work out quite what the subject is. A point to note is to find an arrangement where you can tell what the subject(s) is/are just by their outlines. As silhouettes are not able to draw on colours, tones and textures to make them appealing, the subject needs to be strong in its visual appeal without these added details. Remember, the stronger the shape of the image, the more successful the image will be.

The subjects can be anything, so long as you stick to the above advice and choose good, strong distinctive shapes. Things that work well are buildings, trees, mountains, people and animals. When shooting people and animals it can be handy to shoot them in profile, where their shape is more instantly recognisable. For instance shooting a person head on, you will not see details of hair, eyes, nose and mouth, as they will be very dark. However in profile they are outlined and more able to be recognised.

Silhouettes work really well when they are captured against backgrounds of strong colours. This will make your image instantly eye-catching and give it that WOW factor! A good overall composition will make you want to look at the image again and again.

Achieving the Shot
You want to place your subject again some strong back lighting. The best results are generally obtained at sunrise or sunset, although a silhouette can be created against and bright background.

You want to get your camera and set its exposure for the brightest part of your image and not the subject- remember you want this to be dark. Essentially we are making our camera think it is the brightest part of the image we are interested in, which this time just happens to be the background, not the subject. In doing this your subject will be under exposed, throwing them into a silhouette against the background. Set your camera to matrix or evaluative metering with no compensation and do a test shot. You will be surprised at how good the initial results will be. If you think your image could go darker, then put in some minus compensation or like wise if it needs to be lighter then add some plus compensation. It is a simple as that, but remember that your images strength is in the subject and the composition.

So go on, get out there and have some fun trying something new, if you have never tried this sort of photography before. It will be a new tool in your toolbox of photographic creativity.