Monday, January 10, 2011

and the next theme is... SILHOUETTES


Silhouettes are dark (or black) shapes against a bright light source. It is common to use the rising or setting sun for silhouettes. The bright light shadows the subject matter, but you may still need to underexpose your subject a bit.  A silhouette photo of something small or insignificant will often lose its magic so it is preferable to use a substantially sized object.

This technique can be done with any kind of camera. It may take a little trial and error until you perfect it but when you do, you will find silhouettes dramatic and a lot of fun!

Helpful tips to get you started:

1. Meter for the sky, then focus on the object. Voila, there you have a silhouette.
2. If you place the sun directly behind your object, it will have a fun glow around the outlines as seen in the picture above at the dog's fuzzy head.
3. Raise your f-stop to a higher number to achieve a nice depth of field in your picture.

Get your family or furry family members to stand still for you. Bribery is allowed.  I am really looking forward to seeing all the wonderful silhouette pictures in the flickr pool.

Make sure to stop by tomorrow when Tammy will be handing off her muse day to our second Muse's Muse, one of our faithful followers selected to muse on CREATURE FEATURE.

suki of suki photography blog

Summer Silhouette - Featured on Shutter Sisters 9/1

7 comments:

Jamie said...

What a fun theme.

Lisa said...

It is a fun theme.

gina said...

I love these silhouette photos...the umbrella picture is amazing! This is a wonderful theme...I can't wait to see all the great photos.

Bel said...

Oh what lovely photos; I'm inspired.

Anna said...

Stunning silhouette images!

blue elephant photography said...

i love both photos! i will have to think of something aside from people lol maybe find something =)

Jill said...

That umbrella shot is beautiful!

The dog is so well done too - love the DOF!

Blessings,
Jill
www.fnaphotography.blogspot.com

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