31 Day Photo Challenge - Silhouette - Day 15

Today's photo challenge is "Silhouette".  According to the Oxford Dictionary, a silhouette is a "dark shape and outline of someone or something [tree, building, or a person with a tree or building] visible in restricted light against a brighter background."  Now how do you get a good picture of a silhouette?

I found this post on How to Photograph Silhouettes in 8 Easy Steps by Darren Rowse who recommends that you:

• Choose a strong subject
• Turn off your flash
• Light the back of your subject and preferably with a sunset or sunrise, but he says any bright light will work
• Frame your shot so your subject is either hidden by the light or is in the background, but is not obvious
• Make your shape (a person or tree) recognizable, which can be done by taking a profile picture of your person rather than a straight on picture
• Trick your camera's auto metering mode so that it won't lighten your subject and to get your silhouette
• Use manual mode if auto mode doesn't work by changing the shutter speed and aperture
• Focus on your silhouetted subject by using manual focusing and aperture

Now it was time to put these recommendation to work.  It was a little difficult to find a strong subject today since it was grey, rainy and then pretty much overcast for the rest of the day.  I started to take Nutmeg out for a walk this evening when I saw the sun coming out so I ran back home to get my camera.  Two minutes later the sun was hidden behind a gigantic cloud.  We continued on our walk, stopped for a few minutes at our favourite bench along the Rideau River, then we carried on with our walk when I saw the sun poking out on the path and darkening the trees on either side.  This looked like a good opportunity to take a practice picture.

Practice Silhouette Picture

After taking some practice pictures, we went to the off-leash dog park for a short time so Nutmeg could run around and visit with people.  As we crossed the other off-leash dog park heading towards the street, I turned around and took more pictures of trees.

Silhouette Picture at the Dog Park

I continued to look for a subject with a bright light behind it on my walk home and decided to use a building for my next picture.

31 Day Photo Challenge - Day 15 - Silhouette (final picture)

Today's challenge was tricky, interesting and definitely something to keep practicing.  The above pictures are unaltered.  I would love to do silhouettes with a person.  Please let me know if you are interested in being my test subject.