What started as an interview with photographer Erika Thornes rapidly turned into a silhouette photography tutorial.
Watch while she explains the basic tips for shooting good silhouette photos and then goes through a digital workflow using Lightroom. If you’ve always wanted to know how to shoot silhouette portraits, this could be the best 40 minutes you’ve spent in a long time.
- learn the best angle for silhouette photography (and what to do if you can’t get it right)
- where to stand and where to place the light source
- how to correctly expose a silhouette portrait
- tips for creating images that microstock agencies are dying to have
- Lightroom processing tips for best results
- how to get a stunning reflection in the water
Silhouette Photography Digital Workflow Examples With Lightroom
3 Keys To Great Silhouette Photography
#1 Angle
- Get low – and if you can’t get low enough, get your subjects up higher
- Full bodies – subjects should be full length
- Sky dominates – the horizon should be towards the lower third in the image
- Light source – the subject should be between you and the light source
#2 Separation
- Emotion – silhouettes must capture more emotion than you do in a portrait
- Meaning – viewer needs to be able to understand in an instant what’s happening in the picture
Good separation means that you can clearly see what’s happening in the silhouette.
The edges are sharp and clearly defined. Separation is the opposite of clumping.
#3 Exposure
- Expose for the sky – set your camera to meter off the sky. Make sure it’s not overexposed.
- No blinkies – check your histogram for blinkies. There shouldn’t be any.
BONUS: Lightroom processing tips For silhouettes
Erika discusses lightroom processing tips around the 19 minute mark on the video including these:
- pump up the brights on the tone curve
- don’t mess with the saturation
- adjust your blacks
and finally, some tips on creating reflections off the water
How to create reflection off the water in your photographs
Getting a good reflection is actually about the beach and the tide. The two key points are that you must have a flat beach and you have to have a negative tide of -1 or -2 feet below sea level.
Silhouette photography in a nutshell: “Get low and just shoot everything in raw format. Then just adjust color balance in Lightroom.”
I’d like to thank Erika for taking the time with me in what turned out to be a silhouette photography tutorial. Recently we we learning about beach photography tips and this tutorial has expanded on that nicely.
About Erika Thornes
Erika is a San Diego based photographer that spends a lot of her time at, or thinking about, the beach.
In her own words “I strive to learn, and love teaching. It is my goal to discover something new each day. I openly share what I learn, and encourage others. My goal, as a photographer, is to make art for you to treasure; that will hang on your grand children’s walls in 50 years. I want the photos to be something that becomes a family gift and heirloom that will bring a sense of history that freezes a moment in time for your family.”
Find Erika on Facebook.
