Silhouettes with a colorful background can make for a photo with a lot of punch. The silhouette is a suggestion to the viewer’s mind. It’s negative space, so it’s pleasing to the eye. But the outline is familiar and the viewer’s mind “fills in” the rest. The result is an easy-to-look at photo that tickles the right side of the brain.

Step 1 – Make Sure Your Subject is Backlit

Any bright light will do, but ensure your subject is directly backlit. The sun, when it’s low in the sky, is a spectacular and powerful backlight. Other backlights could be:

• A campfire
• Car headlights
• Stage lights
• A lamp
• A candle
• Any light source… you get the idea!

Step 2 – Set Your Exposure For the Light Source

You may not have to monkey with your exposure setting, so try a few test shots first. If you’re still not getting a silhouette, switch to Manual Mode (“M”)

If the backlight is the sun, then you probably won’t have to adjust anything. But if the backlight isn’t too bright you’ll have to meter off of the bright point in order to keep your subject (silhouette) underexposed. This means you’ll have to go into Manual Mode… gasp. But how do you do this? Ah ha… read your manual!

Once you switch to  Manual Mode point your camera at the bright spot, and rotate your exposure control until it indicates you’re close to, or at, the appropriate exposure. Take another test shot.

Step 3 – Crank Up the Contrast

Once you download the photo from your DSLR, bring it into your favorite photo editing software. Increasing the contrast will make the silhouette darker and enhance the silhouette effect. You can also adjust the color saturation and vibrance and see what you can get. Depending on the effect you’re trying for, you may like lots of contrast. Or, you may like to keep some of the subject visible. It’s all up to you, naturally!

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An article on silhouettes was TJ Scott’s idea. Check out his photos. They’re crazy good!