January 14 - Photography Technique Silhouette

Discussion in 'MOC 2020 Challenges' started by bestcee, Jan 14, 2020.

  1. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

    Messages:
    19,373
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2013
    I love Em-Oh-Cee, or Mock, if you prefer. The challenges, the creativity, the overflowing gallery! Today, I have a photo challenge for you. Silhouettes are a captivating image. The focus of the photo is usually black, with no visible features, just a shape against a (usually) color background. The contrast between the black and the color adds a unique mood to a silhouette. It can be mysterious or romantic or joyful or any number of emotions. Sometimes I capture them on purpose, sometimes purely by accident. Either way, I love the focus on the shapes in the photo. It adds another dimension to a photo when it is told through shapes alone.

    Here are a few examples of silhouette photos from my collection.
    challenge.jpg

    Today's challenge is for you to take a silhouette photo and scrap it.

    There are many ways to achieve the silhouette look. The easiest is to shoot a backlit subject. Backlit means the brightest light is behind the subject. If you use nature for your light, it's easiest to get a silhouette at sunrise or sunset. The trick with a silhouette is to expose your photo for the light, not for the person or object. This can be captured with any camera type.

    1. Shoot Against the Light. Doors and windows work, so does the sun. Hiding the sun behind your subject is another trick.
    2. Pay Attention to the outline of your subjects. If you use people, you don't want them too close together or they will only be a blob.
    3. Set the exposure manually and turn off your flash.

    Here is my page. I used two photos, you do not have to. I knelt down to look up a little at my son. It created a better silhouette against the fading sunset. It also gives him more importance, but that's a subject for another day.
    [​IMG]

    Rules:
    1. Take a silhouette photo. The photo must be new and it can not be a stock photo. The photo must be taken by you.
    2. The largest photo on the page must be a silhouette. Shadows do not count as silhouettes.
    3. There must be other TLP product on the page besides your photo.

    Your page must be a new page in order to count for the Month of Challenges. Your page must be posted in three places:
    1. Uploaded to the TLP Gallery (not an outside hosting site).
    2. Posted in your page thread you created in the MOC Layouts Folder. You should have one post per completed challenge page. If you complete all 31 challenges, your thread should contain 31 posts. Please do not comment in the participants’ page threads so we can keep them clean.
    3. Posted in this thread. People can comment here if they wish.
    Pages should contain at least 75% current Lilypad product (currently for sale in the store from either permanent designers or guest designers). Pages with just photos and/or journaling do not count toward your MOC pages.

    If you need more help with capturing a silhouette, here are a few links:
    https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-silhouettes/
    https://www.eyeem.com/blog/10-tips-for-taking-stunning-silhouette-photos-with-your-smartphone

    I can't wait to see your silhouette photos!
     
  2. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

    Messages:
    19,373
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2013
    Reserved for Q & A and clarifications

    Define new:
    A new photo anytime after this minute when I posted the challenge :-)
    So today, tomorrow, January 31st....

    I know there's a lot of grey weather in the winter. Here's some tips: I found this article with an example for a cloudy day and tips on how she did it.
    https://www.rebeccaspencerphotography.com/2015/09/how-to-shoot-a-silhouette-on-an-overcast-day/
    You can do it! The photo at the bottom right in my example is actually taken at nighttime, after sunset. The pipes behind us glow brightly creating the silhouette regardless of the sky weather. I've also gotten some silhouettes of my kid playing video games in front of the TV. Not a lot of light inside, plus the bright tv screen = silhouette.
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2020
    crazsquaw, Angela Toucan and cfile like this.
  3. StefanieS

    StefanieS Think it over, think it under

    Messages:
    9,161
    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2014
    Wow, a great challenge.
    We have to take a new photo, like today?
    What do you consider "new", how recent?
     
    bestcee likes this.
  4. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

    Messages:
    19,373
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2013
    A new photo anytime after this minute when I posted the challenge :-)
    So today, tomorrow, January 31st....:whistle
     
    crazsquaw, jesskab and patsyt like this.
  5. LilachOren

    LilachOren Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    445
    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2014
    Oh.. this is fun... It going to be interesting.
     
    bestcee likes this.
  6. cinderella

    cinderella I was alone once...best.day.ever.

    Messages:
    6,296
    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2012
    Sounds cool!
     
    bestcee likes this.
  7. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

    Messages:
    19,373
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2013
    Yay!
     
  8. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

    Messages:
    19,373
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2013
    I'm excited to see what you capture!
     
    LilachOren likes this.
  9. jagruti patel

    jagruti patel Me love cookies! Yum! Yum!

    Messages:
    4,415
    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2015
    Never mind! I see we can have multiple subjects! Lol...that was going to be my question! Have an idea. Hope it pans out!
     
    bestcee likes this.
  10. CharlotteM

    CharlotteM Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    802
    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2017
    thank you for the Challenge!
    In January there are always the most beautiful sunrises here in Berlin, so I take pictures of the beautiful sky and the tree silhouette almost daily from my window.
    I did that today, exactly at the time when you shared the challenge. Photo is brand new ......

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2020
    ziesenil, Joan K, rrred68 and 4 others like this.
  11. nessita

    nessita Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    332
    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2017
    It's gonna be a real challenge here in this foggy, cloudy weather. Hope i can see some sunlight soon :)
     
    bjc likes this.
  12. Mumma848

    Mumma848 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    785
    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2014
    excellent!
    So the main photo, the biggest photo must be a silhouette, but there can be other photos on the page that are not?
     
    bestcee likes this.
  13. disneysheryl65

    disneysheryl65 Snoring in perfect pitch

    Messages:
    1,098
    Joined:
    Aug 23, 2014
    If the silhouette picture is take today and dominates the page, can there be other photos that aren't new on the page for a theme? I have an idea about what I want to photograph today and pair it with some existing pictures I have. Thanks!
     
  14. meterr

    meterr I've got ICE in my veins!

    Messages:
    2,083
    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2010
    I hope my silhouettes are ok. I took the only opportunity I had to take photos as its cold here and we don't go out much in the cold. I used our early morning commute to school to do my photography! I used dark colours to keep the feeling of the layout/photos as well as making it masculine. If you're wondering what's playing on the radio its one of my son's faves, Jethro Tull!

    Silhouette: Husband and son in silhouette in vehicle
    [​IMG]
     
    rrred68, cfile, bestcee and 1 other person like this.
  15. KAPOH

    KAPOH Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    1,457
    Joined:
    May 4, 2012
  16. mirjam

    mirjam mirjam

    Messages:
    9,331
    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2012
    The silhouette photo isn't all that but the lunch at Kek sure was!

    [​IMG]
     
    cfile, ashleywb and weaselwatchr like this.
  17. bjc

    bjc Trophy Wife

    Messages:
    3,807
    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2011
    Same here. Cloudy and grey almost every day
     
    lulyg14 and cfile like this.
  18. Pachimac

    Pachimac Give me all the cliché Christmas movies

    Messages:
    3,839
    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2016
    Aw man!!! I have the best photo I took last week of a silhouette of my friends daughter on top of a cliff at sunset!!!!!!!!!!!
     
    LynnG and bestcee like this.
  19. flowersgal

    flowersgal I have big ears and wide arms

    Messages:
    3,743
    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2014
  20. cestlafranz

    cestlafranz Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    98
    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2019
    @bestcee Would it be ok to use a bw-version of my picture? It does show the silhouette in the coloured version as well, I just prefer black and white. I don't mind attaching both images to the thread later, if that helps with the requirements. But I can also understand if a bw-image does count as cheating.
    Many thanks, Franzi
     

Share This Page