What is Silhouette Photography?
A silhouette is a type of photograph that captures the shape or outline of an object, animal, person, or scene in black against a lighter background. Silhouettes are often taken at sunset when there is a low sun angle that provides dramatic backlighting. Let’s discuss some tips on capturing the perfect silhouette photography.
We wanted to showcase some of our favorite examples of silhouette photography from our Visual Flow Facebook Community. Join and submit your images to our weekly challenges for a chance to be featured in the next article or our Instagram feed! You’ll see how silhouettes look in various scenes:
Silhouette Photography in Nature
The most common use of silhouettes is found in portraits in nature. Landscape and travel photography have become popular since the rise of mobile photography and with the limitations that most phone cameras showcase in low light, silhouettes are a great option. Try photographing the subject against a colored sky or sunset to create a silhouette. Make sure to frame the subject so they don’t get lost in the background. Take a look at some of our favorite examples of silhouettes in the ocean, forest, and other beautiful landscapes.
Sean Reefman – Instagram | Website
Adrian Ong – Instagram | Website
Wyatt Parker – Instagram | Website
Creating Silhouettes Using Flash
What happens when you run out of light to create silhouettes? Have no fear – flash is here. One of the best ways to impress your clients is to create the look of a silhouette using flash. It always surprises them what you can do with flash because the naked eye can’t see the vision. Here are a few of our favorite examples!
Scott Josuweit – Instagram | Website
Rey Benasfre – Instagram | Website
Abhi Sarkar – Instagram | Website
Silhouette Photography at Weddings
Silhouettes are a perfect option to cap off the wedding day. These images can be taken during the wedding prep, the ceremony, or couples session. It is a great additional photograph to have when the couples glance back at their day. It can also be a great way to showcase their venue and landscape.
Abinash Das – Instagram | Website
Jose Hoyos – Instagram | Website
Belinda Philleo – Instagram | Website
For more inspiration for silhouette photography and so much more, make sure you check out our free Facebook Group! Learn how our Preset packs can be used and how to get creative edits in Lightroom! You can also look through our previous challenges like the Blue Hour challenge to gain even more inspiration for your photos and edits.
