When I photographed these silhouettes we were on holidays on the beach. :-) And I might add it was the first time I'd taken silhouettes intentionally, I love manual mode!
I tried to pick a place with few distractions in the background. The sun sets behind the dunes but there are lots of trees and erosion so in most places the dunes are a sheer drop. There is one spot that the ground drops off behind the dunes and I could also stand on the beach side of the dune. Some of the other shots we took on the beach.
I manually exposed for the sky. I tried to direct their poses so that they were as clean and separate as possible. So they didn't look like black blobs.Then I focused on them.
In editing I increased the saturation and temperature until I got the colours that I liked. Then I moved the black slider in the histogram (adjustment layer-levels) till the silhouettes were black. But I actually learned a new trick this week that you can use the burn tool (as a layer, see my note below) to selectively colour in the silhouettes leaving the background untouched. This was a bit fiddly but with some images, like the one with the reflections on the beach it kept the image from becoming too dark.
My husband and I had a debate about the trolley photo. I thought the white insides of the trolley wheels were distracting, see the original here, Day 7. But he thought darkening it made it look unnaturally dark, what do you think??
NB. Since originally posting this I received a comment (thank you) about the destructive nature of dodge and burn. See this post about non-destructive dodge and burn as a layer, which is how I did it. I always work on a copy and 'save as' to protect my original too. Sorry about the confusion. There are also great free actions that do this layer for you, so you just paint on with black or white. See here and here.
Linking up with Click it up a Notch
Constructive Critiques welcome
16 comments:
Nice shots! Silhouettes is something I'm wanting to attempt. I like the original shot with the lighter color showing on the wheels. It gives a bit more depth and contrast to the photo. All your beach photos make me WANT to head to the beach for a vacation. You have some beautiful photos.
I love these shots!!
These are very nice!!
I adore that third shot. It is fabulous. :)
Marla @ www.blueskiesphotoblog.com
Wow-- each one is more stunning then the last! I know you asked for constructive criticisim, but I seriously can't find anything to critique!
Seriously pure awesomeness :) It's really hard to find something to critique but here I go...the only thing I would have like is to see their whole reflection on the 3rd shot where your husband is holding your son in the air I think it would have given the photo more dimension or depht of field. I would love to give this a try with my husband and kids but everytime I try the boys just get tired and grumpy.
I love silhouettes!! The third pic is my favorite :) I've heard the burn tool actually destroys pixels, but MCP actions has a free touch of light/touch of dark action that keeps everything intact...
http://www.mcpactions.com/toltod.html
Each of these is absolutely stunning Sara!
So beautifully done.
I like the darkened wheels. I think it "goes with" the silhouette better than if they were lighter.
Super work my friend, and it looks like a wonderful time!
These silhouettes are so great - I need to try this very soon!
These shots are absolutely amazing!
Wow, what a pleasant surprise this morning to find so many wonderful comments. :-) Thanks everyone!
Thanks for the link Mama Monkey, I'll definitely look that up.
Thanks Carmen, I had initially intended to include their whole reflection but we were waiting for each wave to go out before taking a shot and I didn't notice a big blob of foam was sitting right on their head in the reflection, but I liked this one best because of the position of my son's legs so I decided it was a stronger image by cropping in close. Good point though! :-)
Beautiful photos, I especially love the third one.
These are all beautiful! Great work. I think I personally like the dark wheels with no white. Keeps in step with the silhouette idea to me.
Loving your silhouette pictures. They are beautiful.
Oh my goodness! These are awesome! I love the second one of your husband and son! The wonderful reflection adds so much to the photo!! This is actually a photo that I look at and say "I wish I had taken it!" Since you asked for critiques I have to say all the silhouettes themselves are great! Nice and dark!! Some of the shots are a little tight. Like the one of your son and hubby with the wagon. Did you crop that one? If so, I would pull back to give some space above your husband's head. Watch out for arm chops like in the 4th one. I really like the second to last one! The lines of the mountain are great! Very interesting! So glad you tackled silhouettes! Aren't they fun!!
these are so beautiful, I LOVE doing silhouette shots!
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