Wednesday, April 13, 2016

A Guide to Shooting Silhouettes

As long as you have the right conditions, shooting an effective silhouette is relatively simple – and the results can be stunning. They are a great device when you start to get more creative with your photography.


What makes a good silhouette?

Strong and simple shapes, often coupled with bold colors, are the main factors. A really good silhouette will be instantly eye-catching and moody, making you want to look at it again and again.

What subjects create good silhouettes?

Strictly speaking there isn’t much that you can’t silhouette, as long as you stick to the concept of simple shapes. Buildings, mountains, people, animals and any other object with a familiar form can be used within your image. The key to good silhouette shots is to make sure the object or objects you are silhouetting are dynamic and recognizable within the frame. If the silhouetted shapes are indistinct, muddled or overlapping each other too much, the composition probably won’t work. The idea is to find an arrangement where you can tell what the objects are just by their outlines.



How do I shoot an effective silhouette?

You need strong backlighting to compose your main subject against. For powerful and vibrant colors, this is generally best achieved at sunset or sunrise. However, you can create a silhouette against any bright background, so you can even create them using flash lighting. Neon signs or shop windows can provide a good source of backlighting in an urban setting.

Doesn’t the use of backlighting make exposure difficult?

It would certainly be tricky if you were trying to retain detail within your main subject – but because a silhouette is all about allowing the main subject to fall into shadow, it’s easy. All you need to do is expose for the background. It’s useful to work in Live View so you can see how well your main subject darkens, and use some minus exposure compensation if you need to enhance the effect. Typically this will be around -1 stop. Working in Live View will also help you see how clear your subject is against the background and check that you’ve got the edges nice and sharp. Recompose the image if the shape isn’t distinct enough.





What’s the best technique for getting the silhouette edges sharp?

If you activate auto focus, the camera’s AF system will try to pick up on the area of greatest contrast; in theory this will be the edge between the silhouette and the background, and you’ll get the sharpness you want. However, sometimes AF can struggle slightly in low-light situations, especially in Live View; in this case, switch to manual focusing.


I hope these tips will be of use when you are next time out and about with your camera.

16 comments:

  1. I like this but would tackle the job using spot metering. It doesn't matter how you do it but I tend to spot meter anyway, sometimes several times and then average them. My cameras are all old so it is a safer option. The 1DS III has a built in feature for this very job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well the 1DS is also one of the most expensive Canon cameras :) Sure, spot metering will be point on, but you can get away with these methods as well.

      Delete
  2. AN excellent post with great information and images Mersad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very informative.... and I love the photos you've shared here.
    Thank you for linking up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-many-faces-of-louie.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great tips, beautiful images!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Traumhaft schöne Bilder. Ich habe schon öfter gesagt, daß diese gelben Lichter in deinen abendlichen Fotos mir sehr gut gefallen, wie jetzt auch auf dem letzten Bild. Sehr schön, obwohl eteas unnatürlich wirkend, da der Himmel eher orange oder rosa verferbt wird...aber eben deshalb ist es was besonderes. Liebe Grüße

    ReplyDelete
  6. silhouettes are one thing in photography that i love, silhouettes of dogs, people and trees are my favorites..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Superschöne Bilder! Wer liebt Sonnenuntergänge nicht? Ich könnte mich da auch verrückt knipsen obwohl ich immer denke, ich hab das alles schon tausend mal geknipst. Ist aber egal. Jedes Mal ist es noch ein klein wenig schöner ;-D! GlG Anne

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great information and lovely sample photos!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I do love a good silhouette and love taking them in the sunrise and sunset.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks a lot for the tips. Awesome photos.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great post, Mersad. Perfect for linking to the Saturday Silhouettes meme:
    http://nixpixmix.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Saturday_Silhouette

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very well tips and lovely images!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe

Image Credits

All Rights are Reserved. The images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without the written permission of the author.