When Shooting Against The Light Makes Sense – Creating Silhouettes

Ever taken a photo of someone only to discover the result is a photo of a black outline of your subject against a bright background? Congratulations! You’ve just taken a silhouette photo!

After making this mistake several times, most of us quickly learn not to shoot directly into the sun. As a matter of fact, we’re told to keep the sun behind us. But purposely taking silhouettes can be fun and result in some dramatic images. So, rather than ‘fix’ our mistake, why not learn how to use it to our advantage?

Silhouettes are commonly caused when your camera adjusts exposure to the bright background, rather than on your subject.

Due to their simplicity, silhouettes are a wonderful way to convey drama and mystery in a photo. Best of all, they’re really quite simple to create. Basically, you’ll want to place your subject in front of a strong source of light. Doing so will cause your subject to be underexposed to the point of being very dark, if not black, against the lighter-colored background.

You can create a silhouette of almost anything, but to be successful, it’s important to choose something with a distinct, recognizable shape. Put some thought into choosing your subject beforehand, and try to imagine what the resulting shot will look like.

Location is also an important consideration when photographing silhouettes. When choosing a location to shoot, try to ensure that you have a lot of open space. The goal is to avoid extraneous elements that could clutter your shot, and distract from your subject.

Perhaps most important of all, you need to make sure that you have more light behind your subject than in front of it. The easiest way to start is by placing your subject directly in front of a strong light source – the sun, a lit window, or even a lamp. However, your subject doesn’t necessarily have to be directly in front of a light source. What’s important is ensuring they’re positioned so that they truly stand out from the background.

Finally, to produce the best silhouette shots, make sure your subject is in focus. This will ensure that the edges of the silhouette are crisp and distinct.

Author: Kana Kukui

Part Asian/part Western, and having lived almost my entire life in Asia, photography, particularly photography in Asia, has been a major interest in both my personal and professional life. Over the years I’ve noticed that there’s a huge pool of talented photographers in Asia that generally goes unnoticed outside their local country. I’ve also found that there is a great interest in Asia by photographers based outside the region. The purpose of this site, and my Twitter (@KanaKukui) is simple: 1) to share some insights about photography in Asia – introducing talented photographers shooting in Asia, and subjects and locations to shoot in the region. And 2) to provide a little inspiration to everyone interested in photography – from the hobbyist to the emerging professional. View all posts by Kana Kukui