When I was a child, my mother made silhouettes of me each year- showing my bowl haircut and giant nose. She traced my outline with a pencil on black craft paper, then framed it on a white background.
A silhouette is a distilled image- an outline of a whole. By simplifying the subject, all the “clutter” and extraneous information can be removed. Now that I’m starting my own family, it’s no surprise that I am returning to the silhouette to tell our story. It’s summertime in Boulder, Colorado. This means afternoon thunderstorms. My wife and I walked out to the parking lot the other day and make this dramatic silhouette.
© Eli Powell – Nikon D700, 24-70 mm @ 62mm, 1/125s, F6.3, iso400
One of the easiest ways to create a silhouette is by backlighting the subject. This can be via natural light (shooting into the sun for example) or in this case via off-camera lighting. The “harder” the light source is, the sharper the silhouette will be. For dramatic effect, under expose the image so only the silhouette remains.
© Eli Powell – Nikon D700, 24-70mm @24mm, 1/125s, F3.5, iso 800
Here is a “before” image of the shot above. This is what the parking lot looked like to the naked eye. You can see that by underexposing the “clutter” disappears, and the subject is able to shine through.
© Eli Powell – Nikon D700, 24-70 mm @ 62mm, 1/125s, F6.3, iso400
One of the biggest issues with silhouettes (and backlighting in general) is avoiding lens flare. Lens flare happens with the light source shines directly on the lens. Flare leads to loss of contrast, sharpness & can produce color spots on the image. To avoid flare, use a lens hood and carefully position the camera (or light) so that there is not a “line of sight” between the two.
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Eli Powell is a Boulder Wedding Photographer specializing in modern wedding photographer. He live in Boulder Colorado with his wife & cat, and travels throughout Colorado photographing love.
Website: http://elipowellphotography.com
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