Monday, November 17, 2025

Silhouette with Color Fill

Color Fill - Blue without blending mode

Color Fill - Blue. With blending mode

Silhouette with Color Fill. Hue Saturation

Step 1. Open your Silhouette Project in Photoshop. Photopea demonstration.

Step 2- Click New Fill Layer - Solid Color. Choose a color

Pull the opacity down on the color fill layer 65-55%

Step 3- Choose the Blending mode - Multiply

Convert the file to a jpeg and post to your website. Label Silhouette with Color Fill. Submit a link to your blog in google classroom.

Lightroom Silhouette

Open image in Lightroom.

Select mask< subject< exposure

Change the exposure to create silhouette.

3 before and after images to your website.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Lightroom Silhouette Photography Technique Rubric

Criteria	3 Points	2 Points	1 Point
Technical Execution	Perfectly executed Lightroom mask selection and subject isolation with precise exposure adjustment creating a clear, intentional silhouette	Mostly accurate mask selection with some minor issues in subject isolation or exposure control	Inconsistent mask selection with significant challenges in creating a clear silhouette
Image Composition	Three distinct before and after images demonstrating advanced understanding of silhouette technique, with purposeful framing and visual storytelling	Two images showing some understanding of silhouette technique with moderate compositional awareness	One or incomplete images with minimal compositional thought
Website Presentation	Professionally uploaded three images with clear labeling, thoughtful description, and clean digital presentation	Images uploaded with basic information and moderate presentation quality	Incomplete or poorly presented website upload
Technical Workflow	Demonstrates advanced Lightroom skills, showing confident navigation of mask and exposure tools with precision	Shows basic understanding of Lightroom tools with some hesitation	Minimal comprehension of Lightroom technical workflow
Creative Interpretation	Unique artistic interpretation of silhouette technique showing advanced creative thinking and visual communication	Adequate creative approach with some interesting elements	Limited creative exploration of silhouette concept

Photoshop Silhouette

Choose 3 photos .

Complete the silhouette tutorial.

Post the before and after photos to your website.

6 photos total.

Label - Photoshop Silhouette.

Find images with a white background for best results.

Use tools to find large image.

Step 1- Open the image in photoshop.

Step 2 - Click on Layer. Next click New adjustment Layer. Choose Threshold.

Step 3- Click Layer, < New < Layer. Use the paint brush to cover subject.

Post the before and after photos to your website. Label Photoshop Silhouette.

Photoshop Silhouette Project Rubric for 11th Grade Digital Media

Criteria	3 Points	2 Points	1 Point
Photo Selection	Carefully selected 3 high-contrast, visually interesting photos with clear subject definition and potential for creative silhouette transformation	Selected photos with moderate visual interest and some potential for silhouette effect	Photos lack clarity, contrast, or creative potential for silhouette technique
Technical Photoshop Skills	Expertly applied silhouette tutorial techniques, demonstrating advanced layer manipulation, precise edge refinement, and professional-level image editing	Completed silhouette tutorial with some technical proficiency, showing basic understanding of image editing techniques	Minimal application of silhouette tutorial techniques, with noticeable errors or incomplete implementation
Website Presentation	Professionally labeled and organized website display with all 6 photos (before and after) clearly presented, including descriptive captions and clean layout	Website presentation shows some organization, with most photos labeled and displayed adequately	Incomplete or poorly organized website presentation, missing labels or photos
Creative Interpretation	Demonstrates exceptional creative thinking, showing innovative approach to silhouette transformation and unique artistic interpretation	Shows moderate creativity and some original approach to silhouette design	Limited creative interpretation, appears to follow tutorial without personal artistic input
Technical Documentation	Comprehensive documentation of process, including detailed steps, challenges overcome, and personal reflection on learning	Basic documentation of process with some insights into the silhouette creation	Minimal or incomplete documentation of project process

Studio Silhouette

In class studio photography. Photograph 3 silhouettes using manual mode on the DSLR. Post your top three images with the Metatdata.

Photography Silhouette Technique Rubric: Manual DSLR Silhouettes

Criteria	3 Points (Exceeds)	2 Points (Meets)	1 Point (Developing)
Technical Skill: Manual Mode	Demonstrates advanced understanding of manual camera settings; perfectly adjusted aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to create dramatic silhouette effect	Correctly uses manual mode with basic understanding of camera settings	Minimal manual mode usage; primarily relies on automatic settings
Composition	Highly creative silhouette positioning with intentional negative space and compelling visual storytelling	Clear silhouette shapes with balanced framing	Unclear or poorly positioned silhouettes lacking visual interest
Lighting Technique	Masterful backlighting that creates crisp, defined edges with perfect contrast between subject and background	Adequate backlighting creating recognizable silhouette shapes	Inconsistent or ineffective lighting producing muddy silhouette images
Metadata Documentation	Complete, precise metadata including camera settings, lens information	Basic metadata with most key technical information	Incomplete or missing metadata documentation
Creative Interpretation	Unique, innovative approach demonstrating deep understanding of silhouette photography techniques	Standard interpretation showing competent understanding	Limited creative exploration of silhouette concept

1. Choose a Strong Subject

Almost any object can be made into a silhouette, however some are better than others. Choose something with a strong and recognizable shape that will be interesting enough in its two dimensional form to hold the interest of those viewing your image. Silhouettes can’t draw on the colors, textures and tones of subjects to make them appealing – so the shape needs to be distinct.

2. Turn off your Flash

If you have your camera in automatic mode your camera will probably want to use its flash which will ruin the silhouette. Basically you want as little light on the front of your subject as possible – so the flash has to go (basic – but I’ve seen a few attempted silhouette shots with the flash firing).

3. Get Your Light Right

When it comes to lighting your subject you’ll need to throw out a lot of what you’ve learnt about normal photography and think a little backwards. Instead of lighting the front of your subject, in silhouettes you need to ensure that there is more light shining from the background than the foreground of your shot – or to put it another way – you want to light the back of your subject rather than the front. The perfect light for this is placing your subject in front of a sunset or sunrise – but really any bright light will be able to do the trick.

4. Frame your image

Frame your shot so you are shooting with your subject in front of a nice plain, but bright background. Usually the best backgrounds will be a bright cloudless sky with the sun setting. You want to position the brightest light source behind your subject (either so that they hide it or so that its in the background somewhere).

5. Make silhouetted shapes distinct and uncluttered

If there is more than one shape or object in the image that you’re attempting to silhouette, try to keep them separated. ie if you are silhouetting a tree and a person don’t have the person stand in front of the tree or even leaning on it as it will merge them into one shape and as a result your viewers could be confused about what the shape is.

Also when framing you’ll probably want to photograph silhouetted people as profiles rather than looking straight on. This means that more of their features (nose, mouth, eyes) are outlined and they are more likely to be recognized.

6. In Auto Mode

Most modern digital cameras have automatic metering which are pretty good at sensing how to expose a photograph so that everything is well lit. The problem with this is that most cameras are so smart that they will light up your subject instead of underexposing it to get a silhouette so you need to trick it. Most cameras work out the exposure levels in auto mode when you push your shutter half way down (at the same time that they focus). So point your camera at the brightest part of your picture and then press the shutter halfway down (don’t let go). Then move your camera back to frame your shot with the subject where you want it and then finish taking the shot. With most digital cameras this will result in a silhouetted subject. In effect what you’re doing is tricking your camera into thinking that the bright part of the image is the mid tone of it so that anything darker than it will be exposed as a nice dark shadow.

Some digital cameras also have ‘spot’ or ‘centered’ metering modes that you can switch on which helps with the above technique as they will set the metering on the central spot of your frame rather than multiple spots. This means you can accurately tell your camera exactly which bit of the bright background you want it to set the exposure on.

7. Manual Mode

If this technique doesn’t work and your camera has controls to allow manual exposure or exposure compensation you might like to try some of your own settings. The beauty of digital is that you can experiment to your hearts content until you get the result you’re after.

A simple way to start using manual mode is to look at the shutter speed and aperture that it suggests in automatic mode and to start from there. If in auto mode your subject is too light (ie you need to make it darker) stop down the shutter speed a stop or two and see what impact that has. Use the ‘bracketing’ technique that I described in my previous tip on sunrises and sunsets to get a variety of shots at slightly different exposures.

8. Focusing

In most cases you’ll want the subject which is silhouetted to be the thing that is in focus most crisply. This can mean that the process described in point 4 can be a little tricky as pushing your shutter half way down to get the metering right also means that you’ll focus on that spot in the background. To get around this you can use two strategies. Firstly if your camera has manual focusing you might want to try that. Pre focus your shot before you meter your shot.

The other strategy is to use Aperture to maximize your depth of field (the amount of your image that is in focus). Set a small aperture (ie a larger number) to increase the depth of field – this means you’re more likely to have a sharper foreground and background in your shots.

One last tip on how to photograph Silhouettes – while a total silhouette with a nice crisp and black subject can be a powerful shot, also consider the partial silhouette where some detail of your subject is left. Sometimes a touch of light on them makes them slightly more three dimensional and ‘real’. This is the beauty of bracketing your shots as it will leave you with total and partial silhouettes to choose form.

UPDATE: Check out these 12 Amazing Silhouette Example Shots.