Silhouette Photography – San Jose Photographer – How To Take a Silhouette Photo
One of my favorite things to try to incorporate into a session is a silhouette photograph. This has been my jam since I’ve been taking photographs. I finally thought about putting together tips for silhouette photography and compiled some of my favorite past photos!
Tips for silhouette photography
• Background: In order to take a silhouette, one of the key factors is your background. It’s important to have your background be brighter than your subject.
• Separation: If you’re photographing more than one person, having a bit of separation between the subjects is key, otherwise, it can be blobby.
• Get low: When taking your image, position yourself low to the ground. It helps make sure that your image is clear from anything distracting.
• High aperture: if you want a sunburst (i.e. the sun looks like a star), set your aperture above f8 to get those awesome rays.
• Editing: My favorite part is editing a silhouette image. Sometimes I’ll add layers of colors to the image to make it pop with pinks/purples/blues especially when there are poofy clouds. And sometimes, I let the sunset show itself off.
As you can see from some of my favorite photos, I love to give them something to do. Like jumping, holding hands, and props like kites/planes/streamers/bubbles all help to add to the image. I’ve also been fortunate to work on my silhouette photography since the home in front of my house has provided most of these wonderful images but I do try to incorporate them into a session if I can.
So if you’re looking for a San Jose family photographer and want an awesome silhouette photo for your home, let’s connect!
Kim Ebbets of Photos by Kim E is a Bay Area | San Jose photographer who makes your family shine with authentic, fun images! Her silhouette photographs have been featured in Shutterfest Magazine, Clickin Mom’s, Candid Childhood, Let the Kids.
Located in the Silicon Valley | Bay Area | East Bay | San Jose | Morgan Hill | and is available for travel.