new to photography... need tips for a silhouette..

[LiTa1oo6]

i am new o all of this photography but my sister in law is pregnant and i would love to get a great silhouette of her and then possibly her and her two boys also.. im just not sure exactly how to do this.. I figured out how to do it with inside lighting im just not sure how to using natural lighting outside... any suggestions or tips??

 

[photosbydanij]

Light behind your subject, dark behind you. You can also aim the camera at the sky, lock the exposure, and then come back down and take a shot of your subject. But really, find a tunnel or a doorway or something and have her stand just inside of the lighted area. You stand in the dark and put the light in front of you, but behind your subject. Voila, silhouette.

 

[Big Mike]

Have your subject stand in front (from your view) of a bright background (a bright sky). Reduce the exposure until your subject only shows up as a silhouette. You will most likely have to be in manual mode.

If, by the time you get them to silhouette, the background is too dark, then it mean that you had too much light on the front of them...so find a spot where the front of them is darker, in deer shade etc. and try again.

If you can get it pretty close, you could always darken them down with post processing.

 

[rambler]

Here is a quick video on the topic: (after the ads)

Video: How to Make Silhouettes From Photos | eHow.com

Whoops, you wanted outside....the above suggestions are good...shoot at the subject in front of a setting sun, ie. very bright background.
You could also try to get a photo of the subject's shadow in profile. Try a shadow on a wall.

 

[BlairWright]

Manual mode, set your meter to spot meter, ensure the light is behind the subject and expose for the light then recompose and shoot the subject.

 

[rambler]

A couple of more outside ideas. A foggy day, zoom in tight on your subject. With the sun low in the sky, have your subject block it out as you shoot directly at it.

 

[rambler]

A couple of more outside ideas. A foggy day, zoom in tight on your subject. With the sun low in the sky, have your subject block it out as you shoot directly at it. In general have your shadowed subject in front or backed up against any bright background. As suggested above, meter the sky around the subject and lock it in when you aim at the subject. Experiment with bracketing the exposure.

Here is a n explanation from an article by Vounes Bounhar in the digital Photography Magazine:

"To determine the necessary exposure for a backlit scene, I prefer to use manual exposure. This allows me to take the reading on the appropriate part of the scene, then recompose to frame my subject as I wish without having to worry about locking exposure or variations in meter readings from dif- ferent parts of the scene. There are two ways to go about taking the meter reading. If you want to take guesswork out of the equation, I suggest using the spot metering function of your camera, which you then point towards the area you want to expose for (i.e. if you want a silhouette, point it towards the brighter background, conversely, if it is a high key effect you are seeking, take your reading off the subject directly). Once your exposure is locked in, recompose and shoot. Alternatively, if you
are more comfortable with the matrix/evaluative metering modes, you can simply take a reading on the entire scene, then overexpose by a few stops to obtain a high-key photograph, or underexpose by as many as 3 stops to obtain a silhouette. "