Pronghorn
captured by D5, 800mm w/TC-25e
The silhouette is a dramatic and romantic way to tell a story about your subject. But just like everything else in communicating, the amount you say helps the viewer understand the story. The silhouette is by its very natural a dramatic image because of the character of the light. The most common silhouette comes in the early morning or late evening when we can so easily take advantage with its color. You can suck in everyone to look at your photograph with that red (make sure you’re shooting in Cloudy WB). We all are drawn to red so in using that you’ve done the easy part, grabbed the viewer’s attention. The hard part is telling the story once you’ve got their attention. That’s where knowing how much silhouette you need in the photograph. What we’re competing with are folk’s life experiences and perceived ideas. For example, a palm tree, everyone knows that shape so you don’t have to show that much for all to relate to the shape as being a palm tree. When you use something more obscure like in this photo of Pronghorn, you need to show more so the public can relate. So how much do you need? The answer comes from your understanding how recognizable the subject is in silhouette form. The more recognizable the less your can show, the less recognizable the more you show. Then again, mystery taps the imagination and that is always a good thing too!