# Silhouette .... thoughts?!



## twocolor (Oct 29, 2013)

Thoughts?


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## vintagesnaps (Oct 29, 2013)

I like the idea of it, not sure about the exposure/contrast (it's so white behind the horse). I'd watch the framing or consider cropping out distractions - the brown whatever-it-is on the left, and the edge of the doorway to the right. Even if the camera was straight and it's the perspective, I think vertical lines like that particularly right along the edge of the frame can make it appear as if the photo or camera wasn't straight.


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## tirediron (Oct 29, 2013)

Agree ^^.  I would have tried to drop the background about 2 stops; that bright area just pulls my eye right away from anything else.  I like the idea of the shot, but the exposure isn't working for me.


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## twocolor (Oct 29, 2013)

Yup, you nailed my concerns.  I will try to go back and re-edit from my raw file.  Thanks!


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## mat wildlife (Oct 30, 2013)

Very good image, but I'd try it in mono - the BG then doesn't look too bad.


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## kathyt (Oct 30, 2013)

Yeah, I agree with everyone else. The shot is great, but I think I would make it a true silhouette. It just looks "off" right now.


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## Robin_Usagani (Oct 30, 2013)

B&W should be good.  IMO if you bring the background down 2 stops, the background may be even busier.  Make it b&w, increase the contrast, make the black darker, probably increase exposure.


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## paigew (Oct 30, 2013)

Yes this will be a hard silhouette because you have two different types of light in the background...shade and sun.


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## twocolor (Oct 30, 2013)

kathythorson said:


> Yeah, I agree with everyone else. The shot is great, but I think I would make it a true silhouette. It just looks "off" right now.



Help me understand what would make this a true silhouette.  Is it because parts of her dress aren't silhouette?  How would I set this up differently to make it work in camera?


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## runnah (Oct 30, 2013)

twocolor said:


> kathythorson said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah, I agree with everyone else. The shot is great, but I think I would make it a true silhouette. It just looks "off" right now.
> ...



Meter for the BG and go up a few stops.


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## twocolor (Oct 30, 2013)

Robin_Usagani said:


> B&W should be good.  IMO if you bring the background down 2 stops, the background may be even busier.  Make it b&w, increase the contrast, make the black darker, probably increase exposure.



Increase the exposure on the background?


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## twocolor (Oct 30, 2013)

runnah said:


> twocolor said:
> 
> 
> > kathythorson said:
> ...



That's what I did, blew out parts of the background, but the parts of the background is in shade.  I think that may have been my problem was the mixed lighting in the background...


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## paigew (Oct 30, 2013)

In this situation I would have laid on the ground and see if I could get just the bright light in the background by shooting up (to avoid mixed light). I probably would have moved them to the edge of the barn too. You could also do a silhouette shooting in towards the barn.


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## twocolor (Oct 30, 2013)

Here are 2 re-edits - one in bw with a warm coloring and one is done with the background in correct exposure.  Not sure I love either.


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## Derrel (Oct 30, 2013)

I think the B&W re-edit is very nice!!! I agree with Paige--the mixed sunlight and shadowed lighting in the background made it very challenging to up the exposure, due to the mixed light. The color re-work is also now a lot more pleasing than the original presentation.


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## TheFotog (Nov 9, 2013)

I like the black and white version. Not a fan of the surrounding environment in the picture though.


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## GRafyx (Nov 9, 2013)

I liked it in colors but you should try to bring down the blacks even more (I' m talking of that white spot on the horse' s belly). Otherwise, nice composition, even if it doesn't really do the trick for me. Maybe a foreground element would've made it better.


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## D-B-J (Nov 9, 2013)

I love the black and white processing, and the recovery of the blown background.  My only suggestion would have been to shoot lower, and have the entirety of the background a consistent exposure--as it stands, the bottom half of the bg is much darker than the top half. 

Jake


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