Silhouette

Silhouettes have been used since the early 1700s to portray distinguished profiles of people. Though they were not created photographically at this time (but rather with drawings and paper cutouts), silhouettes have become very popular in photographic composition today. A silhouette is essentially an outline that appears dark against a light background, creating a dramatic photograph.

Importance. Silhouettes allow the photographer to communicate drama, mystery, mood, and emotion to his viewers. The simplicity of this type of photo makes the subject stand out against the light background and often conveys a story. Because the details of the subject are obscured by the shadow of the light source behind it, the viewer can imagine what he or she thinks the photo is actually revealing. This alone makes the silhouette a fascinating work of art and one that will immediately attract attention when contrasted with other photographs in an album.

Method. The best way to take a silhouette shot is to place the shape you want to be left in shadow (or blacked out) in front of the light source. The sun is a very common light source when shooting silhouettes as its setting or rising highly impact the drama of the picture. After placing the subject, the photographer must then make the camera set its exposure according to the background (or the light part) of the frame, rather than the main subject of the photo. Doing this correctly will result in a very dark subject, if not black. It is important to choose a strong subject that will be identifiable once black since color and texture will not be visible and therefore useless in characterizing it. Also, the camera flash must be turned off so as not to illuminate the subject which is intended to be black.