My absolute favorite thing to incorporate into a photo session is the silhouette.
Most people think it’s so tough to create one but in fact, it’s rather simple.
There are many different ways you can create and process a silhouette and some of the time it’s a personal preference not only in your style and how you photograph it but also in the post processing. I’m a fan of a bright background, a little sun flare, and a total black foreground area.
To actually take the photo, I do not change any of the settings I use during the session but usually change the aperture to between 7.0-8.0 and meter for the sky. I get as low as possible to the ground, ask my clients to spread out, and then do something such as jump, kiss, run, etc. It has taken me some time to nail this down but I’ve found that once you get the hang of it, you can create some really amazing images.
How you edit the images is a personal preference. Below, you can watch how a fellow photographer and myself edit silhouettes.
Click Pro Beira Brown shares a silhouette of a family in a field. The image is almost perfect in camera.
Within ACR, she warmed the image by adjusting the temperature and tint sliders and then opened it in Photoshop.
Once in Photoshop, she added a little more yellow and magenta to get her final image.
For me, I do the majority of my edits in ACR. I look at how the photo ‘feels’ and edit from there.
The SOOC image showed details in the clothing, had a crooked horizon, and had some items such as the sign and the one toe of the little boy that needed attention.
In ACR, I substantially increased my black slider as I’m a fan of total black silhouettes. I also added a little blue by adjusting the temperature and tint sliders and decided to work the rest in Photoshop.
Once I opened the image in Photoshop, I decided to rotate the image clockwise until the horizon was straight. As a result, the lighthouse was crooked so I duplicated the selected lighthouse and rotated it to where it was straight and then merged the two layers. I cloned the beach sign in the corner and the toes of the little boy to make it look more realistic.
Voila! There you have both mine and Beira’s edited photos. Silhouettes add a touch of variety to a session so don’t be afraid to have some fun and be creative!
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So glad to see this post 🙂 This is next on my photography-to-do-list!
Beautiful shots <3
I note that I set my camera aperture and speed to properly expose the sky, making sure I'm in manual mode so to keep them. Then I can focus on the subjects.
Thanks!
How did you know I was going to research silhouettes this morning? Great insight and I love the addition of what to do with processing too!
I love silhouettes! I was trying to remember how to do them since it's been so long. Does the silhouette need to happen around sunset in order to work? Thank you for the tip about making it completely black. I always wondered how I could achieve that.
Thank you so much for this awesome post! I've been hesitant to try silhouettes but will just have to give it a shot.
Great information, thank you so much, Courtney.
thank you so much!!
Great Post! I will be trying out your tips this weekend!
Great tips! Thanks, Courtney!
Great tips gonna have to try some out this weekend!!!
Thank you, Courtney! Can't wait to try this!
Love this! Thanks for the tips! So helpful!
Thank you so much! I have taken a few, but wasn't sure how to go about the edits to make the silhouette black. Now I know 🙂
Thanks! I'll try this tonight!
Great inspiration! Thanks!
Thank you! Gorgeous images here to inspire us all!
Wow such gorgeous images! I love silhouettes and I can't wait to try this! Thank you!
Thank you! Wonderful tips. I've been wanting to do this for some time.
Thank you! I will put this on my must do list.
I love silhouettes thank you for all the tips and tricks!
Love silhouette shots. Thanks for the inspiration!
So nice to see two examples — thanks so much for the tips. I really love the look of silhouettes!
so no metering for the sky, just stop down the aperture?
Will try this tomorrow!
for me, i don't … it's become so routine (i photograph a minimum of 2-3 sessions at the beach every week) … and i keep it super simple. i do shoot wide open even in large families too i should add (think 15-20 members) … i know that some people use the rule of them is to set it to the number of subjects but i stay at 1.2-1.8 usually.
Beautiful! Thanks for the tips! I can't wait to try them out!
Wow, that seems a lot easier than what I am always trying! Hoping to try things your way tomorrow. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to explain how to get the perfect shot!
Simple and great steps! Thanks a lot for this! I am inspired to get out on the beach now 🙂
Thanks for sharing your process! I've wanted to try a silhouette photo but didn't because it seemed difficult but this is a simple way to process that I might actually try and get it 🙂
thanks for the tips
Love silhouette shots and feel a bit more confident to go out and try them!! Thanks!!
Thanks! I'm going to try this tonight.
I'll be attempting this, esp. for the SH pic! Thanks for giving all the great tips!
Thank so much Courtney! Just what I needed for my balloon silhouette attempt for the SH 😀
I’m happy to see this post too! Very helpful. 🙂
I'm excitied to try. Thanks for the great advice!
I love silhouettes! Thanks for the great tips!
Great read! It's on my long list of many thing to do 🙂
Thanks for the timely tips – it's on the scavenger hunt list!
Thank you so much for the tips! I will be trying them soon!
I love silhouettes! Thanks for the great tips 🙂
Thanks for this! Maybe I can use this to get that silhouette picture off the scavenger hunt list too 😉
Love the tips!
Great post!
I love silhouettes, but they are kind of hard to achieve when you live smack dab in the middle of a valley! I love it when we're at the beach in the evening and I can get a silhouette at sunset there, so hills or mountains in the way!
These are beautiful shots Courtney – and thank you so much for adding the processing info!
Great tips for getting some good silhouettes. I really need to practice on these some more!
Thanks for this!! Silhouettes are on my to-do list of things to learn and this makes them sounds so simple!!
Thank you so much for this information! I cannot wait to give this a try!
Thank you for this great article! I have been struggling with this for a while.
Thank you for this Courtney! This is my next new technique to learn. It's on of the items on the CM scavenger hunt! Off to try my luck at silhouettes!
Thank you for this post – I love silhouettes but they can be tricky – this was very helpful!!
SOOOO awesome. I love silhouettes! Great post Courtney! 🙂
This is on my summer bucket list. Shooting a wicked family silhouette.
wow-I needed this to get my silhouette pic for the scavenger hunt photo! seriously, I've always wanted to know how to do this-can't wait to try!
Thanks for the awesome tips!! I have yet to try taking silhouettes photos. But thanks to these tips, I think I can!! This should help for the scavenger hunt too.
Okay – I am now armed with my new knowledge on taking a silhouette so I am heading out to grab my 'child holding a balloon silhouette' for the scavenger hunt! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and writing it out so that it is very easy to understand! That is what I really love about clickinmoms – everyone is very willing to share their knowledge and puts it in concise, easy to understand language.
I love silhouettes!! I'm heading to the beach shortly and must remember to play around with these tips 😉
maybe i can use this on my silhouette pics for the hunt! thanks for the tips. i'll be sure to try them out. 🙂
I love shooting silhouette shots!
Yay! I had a hard time figuring this out and needed a bit more guidance.
Such a great post. I want to try it out as soon as possible.
I just got back from a week on the beach, and I took a whole lot of silhouettes that I had no idea how to process. Thanks for this post – it will help a lot!
This is fantastic! I can't wait to play!
Just in time for the scavenger hunt silhouette pic! I had no idea how to do a silhouette pic and appreciate your tips, especially how to improve it after the fact. Thanks!
Thanks for the tips! I need to try more silhouette shots!
Thanks for the tips!!
I love silhouettes! Can't wait to put some of this info into practice!!
Love all the information post after post….I love silhouettes and will give them a try following this instructions. Thank you!
Love it!
Love silhouettes too. Thanks for showing your edits- that is really helpful!
Obviously, I’m a sucker for sunsets and silhouettes! This is such great advice! 🙂
So great! I love the tip of just changing the f/stop– I was completely changing my SS and ISO. F/stop seems faster and simpler! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Awesome process. Thanks for the tips Courtney!
I have the hardest time with this when I mean to do it my photo doesn’t turn out however I have gotten a silhouette when I wasn’t trying , so frustrating for me. I will try your tips and see if I can conquer the silhouette. Thanks
So what is and how do you meter for the sky?? Is that a separate tutorial? Thanks
Hi, Wendy! When you meter for the sky, that’s the same as exposing for the sky just like you would expose for the skin when you’re taking a portrait of someone.
Nice tips! Each and every step clearly explore no any confusion to follow it.. Thanks!!