Smashing Magazine - we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.

Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Advertisement

Silhouette photography is a wonderful way to convey drama, mystery, emotion and mood in a picture. A silhouette is defined as a view of an object or a scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Pictures like these often don’t convey a clear story, and leave part of the image up to the imagination of the viewer.

The key to taking a silhouette picture would be to: choose a strong subject with a defined and recognizable shape; turn off your 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; and make sure the silhouette shapes are distinct and uncluttered by making subjects recognizable and keeping multiple subjects separate.

Below are some truly amazing examples of silhouette photography. All images are linked to the respective photographer’s websites. Feel free to explore more of their work. Enjoy and be inspired.

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

30 Captivating Silhouette Photos

Bogantropuz

VEuHSNJwGn7p2x99Zv6hfwa4o1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Laura Kok

VEuHSNJwGn7ozs9yy2ed14G5o1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Lostchildclothing

Tunnel in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Sprintist

55344-11-16-57 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Dominika M. Frej

VEuHSNJwGn7pjn2iapBIXTZ3o1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Robert Gühne (Utzel-Butze)

No Title2 By Utzel Butzel in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

creativesam

Camel in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Thomas Hawk

Sil in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Prateek Raghav

VEuHSNJwGn9ulo0dTpHBWHHqo1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Juxxo

VEuHSNJwGn7pd9ymemheCk5no1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

threefiftydee

GotAdrenaline 2 By Threefiftydee in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Icy Blush

Butterfly Flight By Icyblush in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Astoria4u

VEuHSNJwGn9ur6qgr7Vzqi0Ho1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

aksdareflection

VEuHSNJwGn9syw2lB1d1LkgXo1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

TJ Scott

2944444128 D4fcd921d6 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Wei Bunn

3453805353 2f1772b298 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

TJ Scott

3385487758 48b7123a2b in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Randall Scholten

VEuHSNJwGn9w27wgMwY0Mc2Io1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Alexandr Zadiraka

2851986-2-over-all-the-world in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Sean Scanlon (Red Ink Photography)

VEuHSNJwGn7os9i6u169vkh9o1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Phil Thomson IPA

AZN7wsuV4n7ptxjf8A2SqXego1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Manic Berry

7d2a6429253157e5d970e31119da9af7 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Michael Sheridan

VEuHSNJwGn7plzjhqDi4Hx5Oo1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Marina Filipovic

Dance In The Rain By Marinshe in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Phil

Silhouette By Phil2001 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Muha

2143275479 4733d855f0 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Ahmed Shiham

2389530870 Dc2fc0be0d in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Toshihiro Oshima

VEuHSNJwGn9wnjv5rxhL8jBZo1 500 in Captivating Examples of Silhouette Photography

Related Posts

You may want to take a look at the following related posts:

Karishma K. is a passionate photographer who features various artists and creative photographers on her own photoblog.

    Post Rating
    1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No votes yet)
    Loading ... Loading ...

    Tags: ,

    Advertising
    1. 1
      José Padilla
      May 17th, 2009 5:51 am

      Simply Amazing!

    2. 2
      magnus
      May 17th, 2009 6:07 am

      Truly Inspiring!
      Love it!

    3. 3
      freshh
      May 17th, 2009 6:12 am

      AWESOME examples!! awesome!!

    4. 4
      Christoph
      May 17th, 2009 6:13 am

      Amazing Pictures!

    5. 5
      ProjectCenter
      May 17th, 2009 6:28 am

      Very nice, and true it is dramatic and mysterious. Thanks.

    6. 6
      Brian Cray
      May 17th, 2009 7:52 am

      There are some simply amazing photos here! Love Smashing Magazine’s themed photo roundups. Although I’m not huge into photography, there are astoundingly inspiring!

    7. 7
      netsnake
      May 17th, 2009 7:58 am

      Although I am always very impressed by the photos you are showing, I slowly miss the very good webdesign part of Smashing Magazine…

      (SM) Please take a look at other posts from this and last weeks – we have published a whole bunch of web design-related posts!

    8. 8
      DKumar M.
      May 17th, 2009 8:12 am

      nice collection Karishma.. very dynamic.

      DKumar M.
      @instantshift

    9. 9
      AHTOIIIKA
      May 17th, 2009 8:25 am

      wonderful

    10. 10
      Felipe L.B.
      May 17th, 2009 8:31 am

      incrível!

    11. 11
      Floris Fiedeldij Dop
      May 17th, 2009 8:52 am

      What? No iPod picture? :D

    12. 12
      Mark
      May 17th, 2009 8:56 am

      You missed the most amazing silhouette from NASA of the space shuttle in front of the sun. http://bit.ly/wauIV

    13. 13
      Harnish
      May 17th, 2009 9:28 am

      Very nice!

    14. 14
      Matthias
      May 17th, 2009 10:02 am

      Great images, wow! I am just asking myself: where ends photography and where starts photoshop? I don’t think all of these pictures have been just taken as they are – this would be realy stunning. But anyway, the result is really great and that’s what counts.

    15. 15
      crazy-coderz
      May 17th, 2009 10:19 am

      very nice and stunning

    16. 16
      Will Reinhardt
      May 17th, 2009 12:26 pm

      Very cool! I think that Atlantis docking with Hubble for repairsvia Flickr, silhouetted by the sun should be considered as well.

    17. 17
      Cat
      May 17th, 2009 1:51 pm

      I agree with #12 | Mark, bu apart from that they’re all stunning.

      Well done!

    18. 18
      Stella
      May 17th, 2009 1:55 pm

      beautiful! i just twittered this :)

    19. 19
      anu
      May 17th, 2009 2:28 pm

      wow!!! amazing pics…..impressive

    20. 20
      Hunson
      May 17th, 2009 2:30 pm

      :D SUPER

    21. 21
      Rob Brogan
      May 17th, 2009 2:37 pm

      wow, these are some excellent examples. Now I kind of want to go out and try doing some in that style, especially since I’m already on vacation!

    22. 22
      Jurica
      May 17th, 2009 2:38 pm

      mostly kitsch…

    23. 23
      Camilo Oliveira
      May 17th, 2009 2:43 pm

      Great pics.

      Check this photo too, Estação da Luz in Sao Paulo, Brazil – http://www.flickr.com/photos/deborabenaim/3500931438/

    24. 24
      Chantelle Paige
      May 17th, 2009 2:44 pm

      Love it…love your tumblr too!!!!!!!! =) tumblr/ChantellePaige

    25. 25
      kapi
      May 17th, 2009 2:50 pm

      Great photographs. You have a really good eye for picking beautiful photos.

    26. 26
      karan
      May 17th, 2009 3:02 pm

      this is a great collection of pics. i have always been interested in photography but never found a quick way to learn it. this article keeps the explanation of the art very simple and i think that is great. keep up the good work.

    27. 27
      Craig - Abrishca Digital Media
      May 17th, 2009 6:22 pm

      Thanks for the great post. I’m really enjoying the emergence of photography related articles here on SM and other web design blogs.

    28. 28
      Samyukta Nair
      May 17th, 2009 7:55 pm

      Wow..! I’m amazed. Pictures do speak a thousand words – I’ve had so many different emotions running through my head while I was looking at these pictures as i was scrolling down. Great attention to details, a wide range of emotions and an amazing array of pictures displayed – great stuff ! keep it going x

    29. 29
      Asela de Saram
      May 17th, 2009 8:39 pm

      Absolutely amazing!!!

    30. 30
      Vijayta
      May 17th, 2009 10:15 pm

      oh my God whats the photos are

      and one more thing before reading this article I does not know the meaning of “Silhouette photography”

    31. 31
      G Baggs
      May 17th, 2009 10:42 pm

      Hey,

      Karishma these pics are some of the most amazing i ever seen.

      Thank you so much for sharing the Link, in fact i enjoyed reading the post as well, could learn some tips from you about Photography.

      Thanx and regrds

      Gaurav Bagdi
      :)

    32. 32
      mr92
      May 18th, 2009 1:20 am

      Amazing pictures (: Really lovly

    33. 33
      ardyonline
      May 18th, 2009 1:32 am

      awsome! great photos!

    34. 34
      Lalita
      May 18th, 2009 1:59 am

      Amazing collection of pictures. Very inspiring for my monday morning

    35. 35
      sick
      May 18th, 2009 2:09 am

      I am sick of the lazy image loader thing.. it is sooo annoying!

    36. 36
      Hee
      May 18th, 2009 2:12 am

      The pictures capture so many emotions and remind me of so many great memories with loved ones I’d pushed to the back of my mind for the last couple years. The pictures gave me a great opportunity to reflect! Excellent choice of silhouettes!

    37. 37
      Resham Raichandani
      May 18th, 2009 2:23 am

      Very captivating photos! Love the use of the colours!

    38. 38
      Meghan
      May 18th, 2009 4:24 am

      The Prateek Raghav birds look like they’ve been clonestamped. It really detracts.

    39. 39
      andrew
      May 18th, 2009 4:32 am

      you might like this one too : )

      http://www.andrewbrauteseth.co.za/people/single-gallery/1632842

    40. 40
      Jesse
      May 18th, 2009 4:41 am

      Good stuff. As usual.

    41. 41
      Billco
      May 18th, 2009 4:52 am

      If this were actual photography I might like it a little more, but sadly most images here look like they’ve been photoshopped to hell and back. People used to be able to take these kinds of pictures au naturel, unlike the many attention whores depicted here.

    42. 42
      Zahira
      May 18th, 2009 5:26 am

      This set of silhouette pictures has the finest selection I have seen in a long time.
      Awesome

    43. 43
      miranda
      May 18th, 2009 5:29 am

      Amazing! good to start week with

    44. 44
      sigh
      May 18th, 2009 5:47 am

      cheesy

    45. 45
      bs.kishore
      May 18th, 2009 5:53 am

      Superd…nice play of shadows

    46. 46
      kishore
      May 18th, 2009 7:01 am

      phenomenal pictures, great job. We need to see more of this high quality collection from karishma.

    47. 47
      Hassan
      May 18th, 2009 7:25 am

      Awesome!!!!!!!!!

    48. 48
      mydarktime
      May 18th, 2009 8:44 am

      very nice collection of pictures. i think i will use some of them for my screensaver.

    49. 49
    50. 50
      J garcia
      May 18th, 2009 10:58 am

      This are very unique and absolutely amazing photos. Great article on the different ways to create silhouettes.

    51. 51
      Sarah
      May 18th, 2009 11:26 am

      These photos possess a dream like quality to them. Very nostalgic…They make my heart smile. =) Thanks for sharing!!!

    52. 52
      Catalina Quiroz
      May 18th, 2009 12:26 pm

      images may be photoshopped or not, I still think the overall result is worth it big time.
      Great collection!

    53. 53
      roop
      May 18th, 2009 1:46 pm

      Truly amazing talent – Karishma job well done.

    54. 54
      Matt
      May 18th, 2009 2:11 pm

      STUNNING.
      so great!!
      I’m just gonna stare at these for a few hours lol.

    55. 55
      Vangoh
      May 18th, 2009 6:43 pm

      Wow! Looks great, but some of them look so unreal, they must have been photoshopped. I wonder…

    56. 56
      sama creation
      May 18th, 2009 10:31 pm

      very nice collection thanks

    57. 57
      Vancouver photographer
      May 19th, 2009 12:48 am

      All of these are excellent. Can’t say that I like one in particular because they are all good. Thanks for posting these amazing images, I would love to start adding shilhouette to my wedding photos too.
      Thanks!

    58. 58
      oolem
      May 19th, 2009 2:33 am

      here’s another one. flickr

    59. 59
      Kasandria Reasoner
      May 19th, 2009 6:11 am

      Wow! Those are truly breathtaking! Enjoyed reading your blog. Keep up the good work! Clicked some ads for you.
      Kas

    60. 60
      nico
      May 19th, 2009 2:28 pm

      Niceeeee pics!!

      this is some own pic:
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/73338810@N00/3394304610/

    61. 61
      Jasper Kennis
      May 19th, 2009 2:34 pm

      Lame post… There are a few great pictures here but most don’t meet with the standard Smashing used to have. It’s a shame, posts like these make me wonder why I still follow SM at all…

    62. 62
      Pri
      May 19th, 2009 4:54 pm

      Wow – nice pics!

    63. 63
      Ronnie
      May 20th, 2009 7:24 am

      Great selection of photographs!

    64. 64
      Binu
      May 22nd, 2009 2:11 am

      Cool, but several images are no original photographs. Example “threefiftydee” is a ” conceptual poster” in its owner’s words.

      It would be greater if you include original images

    65. 65
      Prateek Raghav
      May 22nd, 2009 5:15 am

      @ Meghan

      yes they have been clone stamped :) ..i did it to fill the frame coz the upper left part of the frame seemed empty and didnt attract .
      thanx for the criticism ..but had no other option

    66. 66
      vel
      May 23rd, 2009 1:04 am

      Simply Amazing! and look great :D

    67. 67
      Dominika M. Frej
      May 23rd, 2009 2:02 pm

      Hi there! Thanks for featuring my shot. It was such a nice surprise when my friend told me she saw my photo here.
      I’m happy for choosing this one, cuz people can notice horses are gorgeous animals.

      Best wishes from Warsaw! (;

    68. 68
      AKS
      May 24th, 2009 11:34 pm

      Bull shits

    69. 69
      AKS
      May 24th, 2009 11:40 pm

      impressive Pictures -|-

    70. 70
      LAILA MALIK
      May 24th, 2009 11:43 pm

      AKSDAREFLECTION, you are very aesthetic and animated towards Nature , YOU ROCK!!!

    71. 71
      bee
      June 3rd, 2009 5:25 am

      Wonderful, impressive photos! Just love them!

    72. 72
      vinit
      June 4th, 2009 8:26 am

      wt a lovely click!! unbelievable photography!

    73. 73
      fruitfulife
      July 1st, 2009 2:07 pm

      really great!

    74. 74
      dapas
      August 4th, 2009 9:03 pm

      great.., thx..

    75. 75
      Mk
      October 19th, 2009 11:12 am

      hellow is beautifull this image and xplication’s,

      have a nice day

    1. 00

      There are no trackbacks at this time. If you are interested in leaving a trackback, please use this URL.

    Leave a Comment

    Make sure you enter the * required information where indicated. Please also rate the article as it will help us decide future content and posts. Comments are moderated – and rel="nofollow" is in use. Please no link dropping, no keywords or domains as names; do not spam, and do not advertise!



    Advertisement Advertise with us!
    Join in Smashing Forum
    Post your job