Eastmon Digital Photography Tips » silhouette

Silhouette Photography made easy

Eastmon Admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:50:38 +0000

Capturing that brilliant silhouette of a fisherman at sunrise, or a boat on the water against the backdrop of a setting sun, is all about timing — and a few basic rules.

A silhouette is defined as an outline that appears dark against a light background. This means being in the right place at the right time, and having the right exposure settings.

So when is the right time?

For best results, pick a time when the sun is just above the horizon — that is, immediately after sunrise and before sunset.

In a sunrise/sunset silhouette photo, the sunlight in the background is exposed correctly, forcing everything else in the photo to be underexposed, causing the silhouette effect.

To create a silhouette, ensure that you put an opaque object in front of a bright background and expose for the background.

If you’re using a point-and-shoot, switch off the flash. Point the camera at the bright area, half-click and hold the shutter half pressed to fool the camera into thinking the whole area is bright, then recompose the shot using the dark areas as a frame.

If you’re using an SLR that has a spot-metering feature, take a reading of just the bright area and then bracket in half- or full-stop increments toward overexposure.

Look for subjects that have simple but bold shapes, and it’s important not to crowd the shot: one fisherman at dawn creates an uncluttered shot; four or five fishermen in close proximity could leave you with nothing but a dark clump.

Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey mood in a picture. You might get lucky and snap the perfect silhouette at any given time, but more often than not, you have to work at ‘shaping’ the picture.

When you see a brilliant sunset looming, let your imagination take over. Find the ideal silhouette subject — it might be a person, an animal, a tree or some inanimate oject — and experiment.

And remember: practice makes perfect. You might not get it right the first time, but you can have a lot of fun trying for that perfect shot.

In summary, remember to:

Choose a strong subject with a defined and recognisable shape

Turn off the flash to have as little light on the front of your subject as possible

Get the light right by having more light shining from the background than the foreground

Frame your image so that the brightest light source is behind your subject

Make sure the silhouette shapes are distinct and uncluttered by making subjects recognisable and keeping multiple subjects separate.

Photo by Dan Shirley

Backlighting tips to add magic to your photographs

Eastmon Admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:18:57 +0000

Once you start taking photographs you begin to see how many different styles of light there is. When I first started I knew that lighting was important but I really had no idea how important or how it can either make or break a photograph. The concept of lighting is something that I couldn’t really get my head around by reading it in a book. You really need to experiment with different light sources, directions and intensities.

Backlighting brings life to ordinary subjects

One type of lighting though that I am beginning to become a huge fan of is back lighting. It is something that most people try to avoid and rather have their subjects standing straight on at the sun getting them to look up at the camera on the count of three. You can hardly say they are the most flattering, natural photos. However by using backlighting you can easily get around this problem while at the same time giving the photos a lot more depth

Beautiful, shape and form with backlighting

Flat, boring lighting

It goes against everything we have been taught since we first got a camera in our hands but it just gives a different feeling to the photo. By having the sun directly behind your subject the camera will pick up a lot of detail that otherwise would have been lost like a wisp of stray hair caught by the wind or the shape of the leaves. Shooting the camera right into the sun is really great for thin objects as you can pick up more vivid colours or patterns in it, for example the photos of the smoke. When I took the first shots I had the light coming in from the side but I couldn’t seem to get the smoke to stand out so that I could capture it clearly enough with the camera so I moved the lamp around to the back of the candle, coming in from a low angle so that it really picked up the shapes and density of the smoke and defined the contour of the candle.

Backlighting and lens flare

As nice as an effect as backlighting gives there are a couple of pitfalls I have learnt that can ruin a great photo. The first problem is lens flare. This is created when excess light hits the camera sensor creating shapes or circles of light on your photographs. Some people use it to create an artistic effect however most of the time it is best avoided which can easily be done by buying a lens hood or by sheltering the lens from the sun with your hand like you do for your eyes when you look into the sun. The second most common problem is the camera being tricked by how much light is going into the camera so that it underexposes the image, leaving you with nothing but a silhouette of your subject. The simple way to get around this is to set your camera to forced flash mode so that not only will the camera pick up the nice sunny background but the flash will fill in the detail on your subjects face. If you find that the flash is a little too harsh, try a reflector which can be easily made out of a piece of white cardboard.

Once I had got my head around using light in such a way I noticed a definite improvement in my photos. They are so much more interesting and have more depth and feel to them. Being able to manipulate light to your advantage is also a very valuable tool to have.

Very subtle backlighting does not detract from the subject.

Amy is one of the team members in the Ballina store. You can see her profile here or drop in and see her and the rest of the team for advice or help.

How to Shoot Photos on a Rainy Day

Eastmon Admin — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:05:01 +0000

Look for strong colours to capture attention.

The wet, rainy weather wasn’t very good for our Australia day this year, ruining BBQ’s and street cricket everywhere but as far as photography is concerned you can’t let a little rain dampen your spirits. Just after it rains it seems that colours are brighter and stand out more and everything looks so fresh and clean.

Overcast days are great for taking photographs as the clouds block out the harsh sunlight so you don’t have to worry about strong shadows and highlights and your colours will show up more brightly, resulting in a clearer more crisp shot. You can also have great fun using props such as gumboots and umbrellas and have your subject jumping in puddles or catching them in the rain. By having fun taking the photos you will be able to capture that excitement and innocent play in your shots. It is great for taking photos of children; however it may take a while to convince them that they are allowed to play in the puddles for a change.
Having all the excess water around makes a playground of photo opportunities, if you use you imagination. I took this photo of the girls reflection in the puddle. You can’t see their faces very well but the shapes of their silhouettes makes an interesting and fun shot. Although it is important to remember to make sure that you don’t catch your reflection in the water at the same time and to make sure the water is still so you don’t have the ripples distorting the reflections.

Reflections are everywhere after the rain.

The other good thing about taking photographs during wet weather is that most things are covered in tiny water droplets which make for really interesting macro shots. For example look at this photo of the frangipani. Not only are the colours more intense and dramatic but all the water droplets that are resting on the petals make the shot all the more interesting. You need to get in real close to your subject and make sure you focus sharply so that your photos are crisp and sharp and picks up all the minute detail. Also, when taking macro photos, remember to keep an eye on your background, and if possible blur it out, so that the focus remains on the detail of the subject.

Water droplets add life to your images

As fun as it is taking photos during wet weather it is important to remember that cameras don’t like too much water (unless of course you have an underwater camera). It is okay if a few droplets fall onto the camera every now and again however if the rain gets heavier and more persistent then you really need to get your camera under cover. I found that by wearing a rain coat I can keep the camera out of the weather while I rethink a shot or reposition and then just bring it out quickly when I am ready to take it. However I have a couple of times used glad wrap or a large zip lock bag with a hole cut out for the lens to put my camera in to keep it dry while taking the shots. Might not be a high tech water proof casing but I find it does the job.

A slow shutter speed to capture the rain drops and the strong fence line draws your eye in to the Kookaburra

Don't forget to have fun!

However careful you may be water still finds it way on to your camera so I recommend that you let your camera air over night. All this involves is taking out the battery and memory card (and taking off the lens for SLR’s) and putting it somewhere warm and dry overnight. After that it should be fine to pack away as normal. So next time the rain has ruined your plans grab your camera and take the opportunity to take some fun, interesting and unique photographs.

Amy is one of the team members in the Ballina store. You can see her profile here or drop in and see her and the rest of the team for advice or help.