Silhouettes can be among some of the more graphic images that an outdoor photographer can make. When you know what to look for and a few simple tricks, silhouettes can be easy images to create.
Silhouettes occur when your subject is in front of a background that is much brighter that your subject. This situation most often occurs when your subject is in front of a sunset or sunrise sky, when you set your exposure for the brighter background this will render your subject as a dark featureless silhouette.
The old adage “less is more” very much applies when composing silhouettes. For these types of images to be effective, they need to be very graphic and very simple. You want to distill the image down to just the silhouette and the background.
When you are making silhouette images you want to try to position your subject so that is in front of the most colorful part of the background. In order to isolate your subject against your chosen background you will often want to use your longest lens because the narrow angle of view provided by these lenses will help you select the best section of background for your shot.
It is also important that you not allow anything else in the frame to merge with your subject. Because anything that touches your subject in a silhouette will become part of your silhouette. You want to work to make sure that the outline of your subject is free of these distracting elements.
Managing the Exposure
Because lighting can vary greatly in a silhouette setting, the exposure can be a challenge. There are two ways that you can set your exposure for a silhouette. How you do this depends on your chosen shooting mode.
Option 1: Shooting in either full auto, aperture priority, or shutter priority mode
The first option would be if you are shooting in either full auto, aperture priority, or shutter priority mode. In any of these modes, you would meter the scene and dial in an exposure compensation to compensate for the usually brighter background, and make the picture.
The downside of this method is that depending on the situation (how bright the background is, whether or not the sun is in your composition etc.) you could be dialing in an exposure compensation anywhere from +1/2 a stop to +3 stops, and even if you do this a lot you are really just making an educated guess as to how much compensation you’re particular situation will need.
Option 2: Shooting in manual mode
The method that I prefer is to use the manual metering mode and the spot meter of my camera.
When using this method, I look at the scene and try to decide what area of the scene I would like to appear as a mid-tone. In an image such as the silhouetted frog image a medium green. So I would place my spot meter on the leaf, set my camera, and make the image.
In the case of a sunrise or sunset, the spot I meter will become a medium orange color. Using the example of the mother and chick loon below I would place my spot meter on the area just over the top of the birds. Use this reading to set my camera and shoot the scene as metered. This would place that color as a medium or mid-tone orange, rendering my subject as a dark, featureless silhouette.
The correct exposure for a sunrise or sunset silhouette can be a very subjective thing; generally, as long as your subject is rendered a dark featureless shade, the background can be as light or as dark as you choose.
Include the Sun
Including the sun in your compositions can add impact and punch to your images. (Warning: to avoid damaging your vision, only look at the sun through your camera when it is very low in the sky)Oftentimes. If the sun is a major part of your composition, you will need to be sure not to stop down the lens down beyond f5.6, or else the shutter blades will distort the roundness of the sun in the final image.
Flare can be a definite problem when shooting directly into the sun. Flare is caused by light shining into the lens and causing highlights on the internal elements of your lens. These highlights appear as aperture-shaped highlights in your image. When shooting directly into the sun, try to shade the front element of your lens to help cut down flare. Or line up your subject to block the sun and greatly reduce flare.
Often times you can see the flare in the viewfinder prior to making the image. You could also embrace the flare and use at as a compositional element in your photo.
Lining up these shots can be frustrating. I am always surprised at just how fast the sun is actually tracking across the sky when I try to make images like this. I find it easier to figure out the direction the sun is tracking, set up the shot just ahead of where it will soon be, and let the sun move into my composition.
This series of tips, as well as many others, is posted on my Facebook page.
Good Luck & Good Light!
Steve & Nicole