Silhouettes are the subject of latest Readers Photo Challenge
The word "silhouette" comes from a mid-18th century French finance minister Étienne de Silhouette, whose hobby was cutting paper outlines of people’s profiles.
Today, a silhouette can be a very effective device in photography. It can create a very strong and compelling graphic element in your compositions.
Silhouette is the subject of the latest Readers Photo Challenge.
A silhouette is essentially photographing the shadow side of your subject, while exposing for its lit or sunny side. When people say to avoid backlighting, it’s because it can be difficult to maintain detail in the shadows without the highlights being blown out. But with a silhouette, that detail doesn't matter. You just want the outline of your subject and everything else can go dark.
While you may think it’s a complicated thing to do, shooting a silhouette is relatively easy. As I mentioned, shoot the dark side of your subject and expose for the light side, but there are some things to be cautious about.
A silhouette is essentially a 2-dimensional image. Generally, telephoto lenses, which compress elements in a scene, can help to enhance that flatness. Also, try shooting from a low angle to help eliminate background distractions.
Be aware of things in the foreground and background that may interfere with the silhouette. Other things — such as tree branches, other shadows or other things that are silhouetted — can ruin your shot. Try to avoid those things visually overlapping with your main subject. You can get away with if it’s a slight infraction, but mostly, you can put a silhouette over another silhouette. Whatever’s smaller will be swallowed, but with what’s bigger disappears.
People are great subjects for silhouettes, but animals and trees are good as well. With people, try to get them in profile. When you get their nose, lips and chin delineated, then that can bring out their character and they may be even recognizable without any other detail.
A plain sky or one full of clouds can be perfect as a background — as are sunsets and sunrises — anything that is brighter than the shadow side of your subject.
Silhouettes tend to be single images that read quickly. Make sure yours doesn’t have too much distracting detail, especially in the background, which would complicate the image.
I love well-done silhouettes. They can produce bold, eye-catching images that can jump right off the page. Knowing how to create them can be an effective tool in one’s photographic toolkit.
Record photographer Clifford Oto has photographed Stockton and San Joaquin County for more than 37 years. He can be reached at coto@recordnet.com or on Instagram @Recordnet. Follow his blog at recordnet.com/otoblog. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
How to enter
1. Photos have to be taken between Oct. 18 and Nov. 1.
2. Include your name (first and last), hometown, the kind of device you used, how you got your photo and where it was taken (e.g. John Doe of Stockton, Canon 5D Mk III. The Calaveras River Bike Path, Stockton).
3. If there is a recognizable person or persons in the photo please identify them (name, age, hometown) and describe what is going on in the photo. Please indicate if and how they are related to you (friend, mother, father, daughter, son, etc.). For example: “My daughter Janie Doe, 12, is silhouetted against the sunset as she walks along the Calaveras River Bike Trail in Stockton.”
4. Please feel free to include any interesting anecdotes or stories on how you took the picture.
5. The number of photos is limited to 10.
6. Entries can be emailed to coto@recordnet.com. The preferred format is jpeg. Type in “Silhouettes” in the subject line.
7. The deadline for submission is Nov. 1. Top picks will be in the Nov. 8 Record and posted to the Record’s Facebook page. An online gallery of all the photos on the same day at recordnet.com.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Silhouettes are subject of The Record's newest photo challenge
