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You are here: Home / Photography / Photography: Silhouettes Create Drama

Photography: Silhouettes Create Drama

photography silhouettes create drama
by Marie Leslie

I don’t know of many photographic techniques that create more drama than a silhouette.

Besides just being cool, they can add visual interest to an otherwise mundane subject. I have photographed nearly everything I can find in silhouette over the years. I love the way it reduces a subject down to shape and form. I love the way it creates an air of mystery in a photograph. Silhouettes create mood. They can convey peace, conflict, anticipation and many other emotions. Portraits in silhouette can be some of the most romantic.

romantic silhouette

One of the best things about creating silhouettes is that they are also one of the easiest portrait techniques to master.

To create a silhouette, all you need to do is to place a strong light source behind your subject. Most often, it will be the sun. While I most often love shooting near sunrise or sunset–and certainly those times of day make silhouettes simple, not to mention some incredible backgrounds–with a little forethought and creativity, a good silhouette can be created at any time of day. You also don’t have to use the sun.

amusement park ride

When I was in my early days as a wedding photographer, one of my signature shots was the silhouette. When I couldn’t find a readily available nice background, I would simply set my off-camera flash behind the couple, cover it with a tinted gel and trigger the flash remotely, giving them a beautiful silhouette with a background that complemented their wedding colors. More often, though, I would search out an accessible stained-glass window or use the church doorway. The results are still a hit.

stained glass silhouette

wedding silhouette

The next key to a good silhouette is contrast. Subjects with well-defined edges make better silhouettes. Architectural details, trees, especially bare-limbed trees (think winter), vehicles and natural features all make good clean-edged subjects. Make sure your subject is sharply in focus. If you focus on the background instead of your subject, you will lose all the drama you are working to create.

sunset on the tuna fleet

Interesting backgrounds are the completer for a great silhouette photo. If you’re shooting outside, color, texture and pattern all contribute to an interesting background and help to tell the story.

balloons

Silhouettes also do not necessarily need to be fully blocked or all black. As in this bride picture, light is allowed to come through her dress, adding to the feel of the moment.

bridal silhouette

 

As always, you can see more examples of silhouette photography on my Facebook page or on Google+. So get out this weekend and try your hand and creating some interesting and dramatic silhouettes. And if there is a photography topic you’d like to see here, please let me know in the comment section below.

Category: Photography
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lisa

    at

    Beautiful! Always looking for easy photography tips.

    • Marie Leslie

      at

      You are most welcome, Lisa. Just hoping to help more people enjoy photography. It’s always more fun when your photos turn out well.

  2. Bob Pardue

    at

    Yes! I love your work here. I should probably take time to create more silhouettes to round out my portfolio.

    Thank you for sharing Marie!

    Bob

    • Marie Leslie

      at

      Thank you, Bob. I appreciate your comments. Adding a few silhouettes, if you don’t have some will definitely add another dimension to your portfolio.

  3. Laurie

    at

    Hi, love your thoughts on the subject I
    Also love silhouettes. I paint them.

    • Marie Leslie

      at

      Thank you, Laurie. Painting them would be wonderfully creative.

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