Silhouettes

[mistress_elaine]

If there's one thing I've learned over the last year, photography-wise, it is that I love shooting against the sun. There's something about silhouettes which makes me go, "Ooooooh..." whenever I see one. So I relished the opportunity to take an early-evening walk in Stirling's old town, where a nice old cemetery and the castle where Mary Queen of

Comments

[mistress_elaine]

Hi Smith! I agree, rules are meant to be broken, although I have to admit to having a healthy respect for the rule of thirds. I actually rather like that one, although it obviously doesn't work in all situations. It's true, though -- people who never shoot into the sun rob themselves of excellent photo opportunities, especially when the sun is low and all these wonderful silhouettes come out. There'll be a few more silhouette photos in this journal over the next few months.

I, too, wish the branches weren't blown out in the third image, but alas, that's how the photo turned out. When I took the picture, a black spot appeared in my viewfinder, covering the sun and the branches right in front of it. It seems my camera doesn't want me to shoot directly into the sun, and tries to protect my images from overexposure by blocking the source of the bright light. Nothing I can do about that, I think. That's what you get for having a high-tech camera... (Apparently shooting into the sun at a slight angle is OK; I don't get any black dots when I do that. It's shooting straight into the sun that brings out the black dot.)

Should I have cloned out the tree to the left of the bench? I didn't think so when I edited the photo, but now that I'm looking at it again, I think I should have...

[siro_gravity]

Should I have cloned out the tree to the left of the bench? I didn't think so when I edited the photo, but now that I'm looking at it again, I think I should have...
i think your original instinct was right on...it makes the pic more unique. i like it there!!!

i am a film-human and have never experienced the blacking out-thing you're describing here. maybe one day i'll actually take my digital camera with me on a shoot. we'll see. i kinda like being the dinosaur of photographers. it's funny! :D

[mistress_elaine]

OK, I'll leave the tree in. Thanks for confirming my original instinct!

I'd never experienced any blacking-out like that, either, although I've heard other photographers describe it. I once saw a photo with a black dot in it where the sun should have been. Apparently that photographer's camera (a point-and-shoot, I believe) actually blacked out bright light in a way that showed up black in photos, too. Mine didn't do that; it just completely burned out the branches. I'll see if there's anything I can do about that the next time I take pictures like these...

I like film, too (I just bought several new rolls of slide film for my Holga, just to prove that I'm not going to be a total film traitor), but I have to admit to liking digital photography now that I finally have a DSLR. It is so nice to be able to view one's photos straight away, without having to scan them first. I'm actually quite dreading scanning now, whereas just a few weeks ago, it was a regular part of my life! That's how quickly you get used to digital photography. I wholeheartedly recommend it, although I'd never suggest giving up film photography entirely.