Here is a photography technique that adds the “wow” factor to a photograph and moves it to another level – and it works especially well with subjects that have interesting, distinctive or recognizable shapes.

 

This technique involves the photographer intentionally under-exposing his subject against a bright background, thereby causing the main subject to appear as a dark silhouette in the photograph. The result is an added sense of mystery and drama to the image, or even a sense of doom or foreboding in some cases.

 

My photo subject above is of the famous Spasskaya Tower, also located on the Red Square near the St. Basil’s Cathedral, the subject of my last photo blog. The front gates of this very beautiful and ornate tower, built in 1491, serve as the main entrance to the Kremlin from the square and were once used for ceremonial processions. The tower has four magnificent clock faces on each side that were installed in 1850. A large star, added by the Soviets nearly a century later, adorns the top of the tower’s steeple.  

 

After taking the obligatory “postcard” photos of the tower, I changed my position in relation to it until the mid-morning sun was directly behind the tower’s steeple. With its ornate detail and the large distinct star on top, I knew that a silhouette image of the tower would make a dramatic, yet recognizable photograph. Because the tower was somewhat small in relation to the immense bright sky behind it, I moved a little more to the side of it, where I could include the front portico of St. Basil’s Cathedral as a foreground element, adding another distinctive structure of interest as well as depth to the photograph. I was careful to keep the sun completely behind and blocked by the tower to avoid camera flare when taking the picture.

 

To take a “silhouette” picture like this, set your camera in the program or auto mode, compose your image, focus, and trip the shutter. The camera should automatically expose for the very bright background, thereby causing your main subject in the foreground to underexpose to a silhouette. By adjusting the camera’s compensation dial to a plus or minus and re-shooting your subject, the exposure can be tweaked to make the silhouette a little darker with less detail, or a little lighter, allowing more detail to be seen in the subject. If shooting the picture with manual settings, simply set the correct exposure for the bright background, rather than your subject, and take the picture.

Photo and Entry by Kent Harville
Corporate Visuals Coordinator

 

This entry was posted on October 6, 2009 8:14 AM and is filed under Photos . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.