Today I’m going to show you how to take silhouette photos using exposure compensation or at least run you through the fundamentals so you can better understand why shapes appear as silhouettes and then experiment for yourself using the exposure compensation dial on your camera.
In short, in order to darken or brighten photos before you shoot them, the exposure compensation control on your camera allows you to override exposure settings chosen by your camera's light meter.
Read further and I’ll explain how this is useful for silhouette photography.
I like to illustrate my articles with my own photography instead of going the easy route of using stock images, I hope you enjoy it.
Silhouette photography involves a backlit subject. I personally love making full use of the golden hour as this is the time of the day where it is easiest to have your subject backlit with the sun at the horizon.
That subject could be a person, a building, a landscape and anything in-between.
The back-lighting can be man-made such as city lights or from a natural source primarily by the direct light from the sun but also through natural sunlight reflections (on water or a polished surface for example).
Even a floor can provide back-lighting if you shoot from an elevated position aiming down and the floor is reflecting the sun entering a building through windows opposite you, such as in this example:
Alternatively I find that illuminated shop windows in an urban setting create great silhouette photography opportunities:
How about visiting museums? Aside from the whole cultural aspect and many benefits… they too can offer the right ingredients for silhouettes since they are usually quite dark with windows looking out towards the bright exterior:
The warm glow of a sunset can also provide the perfect conditions for silhouettes such as in this photo of the BT Tower in London:
What you will often find is that staying in AUTO mode can make it difficult to capture strong silhouettes. The reason for this is simple.
Assuming you are attempting to capture the urban landscape above, you would not focus on the sun, you would likely focus your lens on the subject (so here it’s the buildings in the foreground) in order to have a sharp outline perfectly in focus.
By doing so in AUTO mode you will end up fighting the camera’s built-in AI.
The camera will insist on properly exposing the foreground assuming it’s what you want, it does so by increasing the exposure, resulting in what should be a silhouette being properly lit and visible while the sky will end up extremely over-exposed.
Quite the opposite of what we’re trying to do here.
Instead, exit AUTO mode (even on your phone) and use manual settings, for example Aperture priority.
Focus your lens on the buildings in the foreground and in order to over-ride the camera, reduce your exposure by adjusting the exposure compensation dial which most cameras feature and phones as well, look for this symbol:
Adjust this (going < 0) until you reach a point where the buildings are totally darkened, like a perfect silhouette and the sky is not over-exposed, just the perfect amount.
Silhouettes at times happen by accident but you can now increase their silhouetteness (not a real word) in-camera using the exposure compensation wheel, a control I am a massive fan of and use very often.
I really recommend anyone use this dial as much as possible and get familiar with it, it is such a creative tool ignored by so many photographers.
Please share your examples on social media mentioning @nicholasgoodden on Twitter or Instagram.
Until next time,
RECOMMENDED READS ON COMPOSITION:
ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION IN PHOTOGRAPHY
HOW TO CAPTURE MOVEMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHY
IMPORTANCE OF BACKGROUND IN PHOTOGRAPHY
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