I was looking through my camera roll after a long weekend away and realised that pretty much all of it was devoted to silhouettes. It seems to be my latest craze after flare, bokeh, shallow depth of field and black and white, to name but a few. I’ve played around with silhouettes in the past, but I’ve really come to appreciate them lately. I like the way that they emphasise shape and composition over colour and exposure, and their high contrast makes a virtue of the limited dynamic range of smartphone cameras. I even invented a new hashtag to label them. So here are my five tips for shooting #silhouettetastic silhouettes!
• Shoot using natural light, preferably at sunrise or sunset to maximise the colours in the background. Make sure you expose correctly, by tapping on the brightest part of the image to ensure that the blacks are really dark. Your subject should always be backlit (ie, between you and your light source).
• Find a hill. If you want a clutter-free horizon for your subject, then place your subject at the top of a hill and go to the bottom of the hill, shooting up and into the light.
• Try to tell a story with your silhouettes. Back in the day, I remember being mesmerised by a book by Jan Pienkowski. With my images I try to evoke his simple use of silhouettes against multi-coloured backdrops.
• Reduce the exposure and increase the contrast when processing your images, to deepen the blacks and emphasise the shapes.
• Don’t forget to add the hashtag #silhouettetastic when you post, so we can all see the results!
Love your silhouettes!
Barbara, you are kind. Thank you!
So glad to have your tips about this, Kirstin – I’ve been admiring your silhouettetastic photos lately 🙂 Now if only we could have some sun so I could try this out myself…
Ha ha! Yes, it’s definitely another way to celebrate the sun being out! I can’t wait to see your silhouettes too when it does finally make an appearance.
Eye candy on a very grey and wet monday morning! thank you for this gift and all your tips! xo
Thank YOU for all your sweet comments on Instagram! I always think of you when I take a silhouette image.
I’ve been entranced by your silhouettes on instagram. So glad to know your techniques. Thanks Kirstin!
Thank you Lucy! I can’t wait to see your silhouette images; your images are always so calming and beautiful.
These are great tips! Thank you
It’s a pleasure Vanessa!
Thank you for sharing all these great tips!!! I love your silhouettes!!!! Now to put Carl on a hill!!! xxxooo
I can’t wait!!!!
How wonderful to see you have silhouette fever! I was hooked a few years ago with self portraits/dslr – I even have a favorite hill. Now you’ve inspired me to bring along models and use my smart phone. Fabulous images, all. Thanks for sharing!
Silhouette fever is exactly the way to describe it! They are so addictive, aren’t they? I can’t wait to see your images from that hill of yours; I remember your images from a few years ago so very vividly.
All lovely!
Thank you!
Kristin, your silhouette images are always so awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing these tips, can’t wait to get out there and “play”!
Oh you are kind! I can’t wait to see the results!