Silhouette photography skills

Practical shooting skills of silhouette photography

Appropriate time

The best time to shoot silhouette is at sunrise or sunset, because the light is soft and not dazzling at this time, which is a good time to shoot silhouette. Except shooting in the afterglow of the sunset, the principle of shooting with other light sources is the same.

At this time, the sunset is at a low angle, and it is easy for photographers to capture the effect of backlit silhouette.

The child sat in a canoe and looked into the distance. What's he thinking? In the afterglow of the sunset, this scene is like a silhouette painting copied by a poet.

Scene selection

The silhouette must be backlit. Take the sunset, the most commonly used silhouette, as an example. The position of the sun needs to be behind the subject. In terms of background, you must choose a bright and simple background when taking silhouette photos, usually with the sky as the background. If there is some water vapor or slight fog in the air, the effect is also very good ~

For the tone of the background, it is best to have a great contrast with the main body. Because when taking a color silhouette photo, the choice of background color plays a role in rendering and setting off the whole photo. More commonly used are sunrise, sunset, colorful clouds, glow and waves.

Only by combining the silhouette with a strong sense of form with a bright background can a good silhouette work be produced.

In silhouette photography, if you can skillfully use the color filter, you may be able to better control the color atmosphere, echo the silhouette subject, and create works with wonderful artistic conception.

Clear theme outline

When choosing a silhouette, we must first look for an interesting prospect. However, we should also be careful to choose those objects whose shapes are easy to identify and well defined. Such as trees, people or animals. However, we must avoid the theme of excessive volume. If a large area of black appears on the screen, it will be very unsightly.

When shooting, take the outline of the subject as a language, and use the outline of the subject to express what is happening in this photo.

Silhouette photography is a very interesting and special photographic art form for the author. It can provide enough imagination space for photographers and audiences. Silhouette shooting can directly use bright background and dark subject environment, showing a delicate and quiet atmosphere. In this way, the subject's photography technique can be simply outlined, and it is easy to attract the attention of the viewer. However, it is not easy to attract others by patting casually. Below, the author will share the skills and experience of shooting silhouette with friends who like silhouette.

Appropriate time

The best time to shoot silhouette is at sunrise or sunset, because the light is soft and not dazzling at this time, which is a good time to shoot silhouette. Except shooting in the afterglow of the sunset, the principle of shooting with other light sources is the same.

At this time, the sunset is at a low angle, and it is easy for photographers to capture the effect of backlit silhouette.

The child sat in a canoe and looked into the distance. What's he thinking? In the afterglow of the sunset, this scene is like a silhouette painting copied by a poet.

Scene selection

The silhouette must be backlit. Take the sunset, the most commonly used silhouette, as an example. The position of the sun needs to be behind the main body. In terms of background, you must choose a bright and simple background when taking silhouette photos, usually with the sky as the background. If there is some water vapor or slight fog in the air, the effect is also very good ~

For the tone of the background, it is best to have a great contrast with the main body. Because when taking a color silhouette photo, the choice of background color plays a role in rendering and setting off the whole photo. More commonly used are sunrise, sunset, colorful clouds, glow and waves.

Only by combining the silhouette with a strong sense of form with a bright background can a good silhouette work be produced.

In silhouette photography, if you can skillfully use the color filter, you may be able to better control the color atmosphere, echo the silhouette subject, and create works with wonderful artistic conception.

Clear theme outline

When choosing a silhouette, we must first look for an interesting prospect. However, we should also be careful to choose those objects whose shapes are easy to identify and well defined. Such as trees, people or animals. However, we must avoid the theme of excessive volume. If a large area of black appears on the screen, it will be very unsightly.

When shooting, take the outline of the subject as a language, and use the outline of the subject to express what is happening in this photo.

The clarity of the outline of the subject helps to express the content of the photo.

If there are other shapes that interfere with the picture, you can enlarge the subject and make a compact composition to create an easily recognizable subject outline under a clean background.

Backlight shooting

Backlight is the only light source for taking silhouette photos. The stronger the backlight, the more obvious the silhouette effect will be. When taking a silhouette in a natural light room, the camera should be facing the doors and windows, and the subject should be in front of the doors and windows, and the exposure should be based on the outdoor brightness. At night, you can use bonfires, lanterns or other lights to illuminate the outdoor, and you can also take ideal silhouette photos.

Backlight shooting can perfectly present the lines of the subject.

The charm of backlight makes sunlight the main highlight.

Isn't it interesting to shoot like this? Because the camera is facing a strong light source when shooting in backlight, the scene is prone to glare at this time, which may affect the effect of the picture, so attention should be paid to prevent the interference of glare. Therefore, the author suggests taking necessary shielding measures, using a suitable hood, or shielding the camera with hands, hats, cardboard, etc. Or leave the camera in the shadow, change the shooting angle, etc. , to prevent direct sunlight or light from reaching the lens, and then press the shutter after the glare disappears.

Exposure mode

We can use full manual (M) mode to shoot the silhouette. Manual mode can shoot more accurately according to the photographer's requirements and achieve the effect in the photographer's mind. Although silhouette can be shot with exposure compensation to reduce exposure, in order to increase the success rate of shooting, it is safest to shoot in full manual mode. Under normal circumstances, you only need to focus on the light source in the background, then increase the shutter speed and narrow the aperture to achieve the effect of reducing exposure, and you can take the best silhouette photos.

Don't expose the subject, but expose it to a bright background.

Exposure should follow the principle of underexposure rather than overexposure, and exposure should be measured according to the background. It is best to make the subject almost completely black and the background can be colored to achieve the best silhouette effect.

If the background sky is bright at this time, you can increase the exposure compensation of 1 or 2 files.

Portrait silhouette

For portrait photography, silhouette is not a common technique, but it is the author's favorite portrait photography technique. Because in the backlight environment, you can use pure silhouette to express the outline and lines of the characters. This kind of shooting can well interpret the beauty of women's lines, and also create artistic conception for the shooting theme through the contrast of light and shadow, forming different interests. Below I will introduce you to some skills of taking silhouette portraits, hoping to help you take good portraits.

1. Separate from the background

When shooting, the subject must be separated from the background. If the two overlap, the outline of the character can't stand out, and people can't see what they want to shoot. Therefore, you have to find a spacious sky and put people in it to get eye-catching works.

Is this wedding photography very emotional?

Write a composition

In the following photo, the boundary between light and shadow seems to radiate two guiding lines that extend outward, so that people can focus their attention on the characters. On the left, a large piece of light surrounds the outline of the character, and the application of the trisection makes the photo easier to read.

3. Depth of field

Usually when shooting, photographers usually adjust the aperture to f/8 to get as many details as possible. But there are some exceptions when shooting silhouette, as shown below, he will increase the aperture to reduce the depth of field and weaken the background interference.

4. Angle

The best way to make the subject stand out from the background is to shoot at an ultra-low angle. For example, the picture below is an example, where people stand on the slope line and the background is a clean sky.

Low-angle shooting can completely highlight the subject.

Use a wide-angle lens

When taking a silhouette of a character, you can use a wide-angle lens to make the character contrast with the surrounding scenery, and the photo effect will be even more shocking.

The silhouette of the black figure is in sharp contrast with the colorful background, bringing a different visual experience.

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