Oxford School of Photography

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Daily Archives: April 19, 2012

Into the Sun – The Art of Stunning Silhouettes for Photographers

“One of the first things you are told by non-photographers when you buy your first serious camera is “don’t shoot straight into the sun”. Listen to this advice and you will be missing out on some the most emotive and powerful images photography can provide.

So what is a silhouette?

Oddly, the original term comes from French politics and has nothing to do with art or photography but today we take it to mean an image where the main subject is in complete shadow from a strong backlight. That backlight is most often the sun bit it doesn’t have to be, any light source, a flash, a lightbulb, even the moon can be used. Also the light source does not have to be present in the image, it just creates a very bright background, forcing the subject into shadow.”.….MORE   By at Lightstalking

©Keith Barnes©Keith Barnes