Silhouettes
I’ve been trying out a different type of photograph lately. When there’s no light in the foreground, and there’s a bright light in the background, the setting may be right for a silhouette.
The easiest type of photograph seems to be with a sky in the background. On a sunny day, the sky is very well lit (thanks Mr. Sun!), and when it’s evening, the sun’s light casts shadows just right for a silhouette.
I took this photo just before evening, as the sun was readying its departure for the night, but before it had a chance to change the sky from blue to red. Had I stayed out longer, I could have re-taken the photo with an orange sky, with a red sky, and with a purple sky, allowing me to decide which came out the best.
What I like about this photo is that Chloë isn’t completely a silhouette. Her features are still partially visible. What I don’t care for is how bland the background is. I’d like to try a different kind of photo, where the subject and an object (such as a tree) are both in the photo, two distinct photographs, but the placement of two-story housing where I live doesn’t really lend to this type of photograph.
A little bit of light showing details is nice when the it may not be clear who or what the subject is by looking at the silhouette alone. If the silhouette is instantly recognizable, these is no need to show the details, and it becomes less of a necessity and more of an artist direction.
For this photograph, I didn’t put much thought or planning into it, and it shows. My only goal here was to get more of a silhouette, removing the ability to barely see any features. The back-light came as a foggy morning, before the sun crowned the horizon. To improve this photo, the first thing to do would be to take the photo with a different background, something fitting of the subject.
The reason I chose a figure of a ballerina for this photo is because a ballerina’s silhouette is unmistakable. The close-fitting outfit, the extending tutu, the positions of the arms, and the closeness of the legs, all speak out, “I am a ballerina, and this is Swan Lake.” (Incidentally, I haven’t seen Swan Lake yet, so I don’t know if this pose appears in Swan Lake, or if it’s a common pose in ballet, or if the figure’s designer even considered to use a “real” ballet pose when designing this figure of Rue.)
I’ll continue to experiment with photographing silhouettes. Maybe I can take some nice photographs of silhouettes during the early evening while I’m in San Diego during Comic-Con!