AT TIMES, such photography is used for concept shots for giving out a subtle message. Taking shots with cut-out figures in the foreground though makes the subject featureless, but their outline against a bright background can tell a very subtle story. Therefore, silhouette photography with cut outs is worth exploring.
Silhouettes can convey message, drama, emotion and mood to the viewers with a clear picture of everything but subject to evoke imagination.
In taking cut-out silhouette shots, place your cut out in front of some source of light and to force your camera to set its exposure suitable for the background to under-expose the cut-out subject to turn it dark.
Proceed as follows for your cut-out silhouette shots:
Create a strong cut-out subject as an interesting recognizable two-dimensional shape to hold the viewer's interest. Turn off your flash of your camera.
Place your subject in front of a sunset or sunrise, a lighted globe or window pane. In other words, bright light or background will be able to do the trick.
Frame your shot with brightest spot of the background light or source behind your subject. Cut-out silhouette of humans should be as side profiles rather than looking straight on.
With these tips you can have reasonably good silhouettes photographs with your own cut-outs as subjects. The cut-outs and pictures in the inset have been created by Deepak Arora of Delhi using the above-cited tips.
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