A SILHOUETTE is defined as an
outline that is dark against a much brighter background. It is about form and
contrast but the great thing is the shape and structure. When a photographic
message can be conveyed through form, a silhouette is second to none.
Silhouettes can be quite dramatic,
and can stimulate the viewer’s imagination. This one was taken at a practice
session at the Darlington Camera Club. Studio lights were flashed onto a light
background, window blinds in fact, and the subject was a member of the club,
another photographer.
There is quite a lot to a good
silhouette with sharp form to the edges and strong contrast without spill onto
the front. So what are the vital elements.
(1) A Very Bright Background to
Create Contrast. A bright background is the first step to achieving a stunning
silhouette. A great background can be the sky or any surface that is backlit. A
photographer can backlight a background using natural light. Any room with a
clean, light-coloured wall can be used by lighting it with a flash.
(2) No On-Camera Flash or light
from any source except the light hitting the background. If any light from your
flash falls on your subject, it will clearly take away the necessary
bright/dark contrast. It’s fine to use a flash to light up the background, but
make sure no light reaches your subjects in the foreground. Shut out light from
any other source if you can.
(3) Clear and Recognizable Shapes
are what make a silhouette a success or a failure. In a silhouette, the key to
accentuating shapes is to separate them by creating gaps in the pose where the
background can show through as we have here.
(4) Correct Exposure. The exposure
settings on your camera must be correctly dialed in for a silhouette. Exposing
for the shadows will completely destroy all contrast. Expose for the background
with an f/stop giving a large depth of field, such as f/8 or f/16. )In the case
of the images here the settings were f22 at 1/125 sec). That way, all the shapes and elements are in
focus. Experiment with your f-stops to see what kinds of results can be
achieved.
If any of these properties are
missing, the photograph will look as if it were underexposed, it will be greyish
in tone, and it will lack form.
