Silhouette Photography

Hey you guys this is my first post here on the General Photography Talk, So I'm not even sure if this subject should be here, but I'll ask it anyways...

I've got a photo shoot coming up soon, and I wanted to do a few silhouette shots, sad thing is I'm not exactly sure how... Can you please help me out with a step by step process... The only thing I know is that the subject needs a back light.

Thanks guys I'm counting on your advices and information!

-Vinnie HillKovich

Btw if your interested in my equipment, I have a canon 7d, and a 28-135mm standard zoom lens

It's pretty simple...expose for the sky and not the people.

If you have a bright background, fill the camera's viewfinder with the background to get your exposure. Then recompose, focus and shoot.

Set the camera to M (manual exposure), and as mentioned meter the background before inserting the person/thing to be silhouted. Take a few test shots until the BG looks good. Add the subject, and shoot again. As long as there is little front lighting, you should be good. Just remember to use your LCD to confirm the shots, and make sure to use manual so the cam doesn't fight you and try to expose the subject properly

Thanks Timbop, this was very helpful, thanks for the step by step process =]

the thing to remember with a silhouette is you are taking away detail from the viewer so they are being forced to rely on a graphic shape to fill in the detail. If people are involved position of arms, legs, and torso matter. Avoid missing limbs. In all cases the position of graphic shape in a frame is significant.