Word Press Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette
This black and white silhouette was shot in Riverfront park in Spokane, Washington and is a sculpture of Lt. Col. Michael Anderson, Astronaut Space Shuttle Columbia. He was killed in the Space Shuttle disaster when the craft disintegrated on 2/1/2003 after reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Anderson attended Cheney High School, near Spokane, while his father was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane. Micheal Anderson later attended and graduated from the University of Washington.
Shooting the Silhouette
Subjects with Good Detail
My subject for this silhouette works because there are recognizable shapes, in fact, many shapes. When seeking out good subjects for your silhouette; you do not want to shoot a solid blop.
It is all about the Light
Remember; don’t take your exposure reading off your subject. The best light for shooting silhouettes is sunset or sunrise, but any bright light will work. For my image, it was a bright and heavy overcast day. I pointed my camera at the cloudy sky and used that reading to shoot the image.
Note: Your camera may have a “spot” metering mode that you can switch on. Using this mode is ideal for situations like you see in my image. Why? A spot meter is a very narrowly angled meter capable of giving an exact exposure (not necessarily a correct one) for a subject. That is what I used for this shot. Just remember to switch the metering back to where it was when you are done shooting!!
Focusing
I wanted everything in focus for this shot. I wanted the statue and as an added bonus, the dramatic clouds, to show up in focus when I converted the color image to black and white (Post processing: Nik Software Silver Efex Pro). If you know how to shoot in manual mode, pre-focus your main subject before you take the meter reading. Or, set your camera to Aperture Preferred mode and set your f/stop to something like f/16 to f/22.
Looking forward to seeing you silhouette for the week challegene.
Love this shot. It is so atmospheric, particular with the clouds in the background. Even more so when you read the history of the person captured in the statue.
Thank you Janine for view my image and for your nice comments.