I'm sure you've seen what can happen. All that light streaming in from the window can fool your camera into thinking it doesn't need to flash. You snap the picture and instead of seeing your cousin's smiling face, all you see is a dark, cousin-shaped blob.

"There's a time and place to break the rules."

Of course, another lesson many of us learn is there's a time and place to break the rules. I'm going to show you how and when to use the power of darkness (MUHAHAHA!) to create eye-catching silhouette portraits.

An interesting face
Silhouette portraits are a good way to photograph someone with a unique profile. Consider Juli, the woman in Figure A. She has a distinguished nose and a rail-thin physique.

FIGURE A

Juli's distinctive profile makes her a natural subject for a silhouette portrait. Click picture for a larger image.

To capture her singular look, I had her stand by a sunlit window. Fortunately, it was a bright summer afternoon. I made sure the flash was off and that's all there was to it. I didn't have to futz around with my camera much, because I had plenty of light behind Juli to illuminate her.

Of course, appearance isn't the only thing that makes a person unique. Next, I'll show you how to use silhouette portraiture to delve a little deeper into your subject's identity

Props tell a story
If you want to illustrate a facet of your subject's personality, having him or her pose with a prop is one obvious way to do it.

Morgan is the young man in Figure B. He's a Mormon missionary, as you might have guessed from his conservative attire and haircut. For this photo, I asked him to sit at his desk with a Bible and pen. It made sense, as Morgan the Mormon spends much of his time studying the Bible.

FIGURE B

Clothes and props can help tell your subject's story. Click picture for a larger image.

In this example, you can see the window was further away than in Juli's portrait. Because I had less light, I couldn't just rely on the camera's automatic settings to make this photo turn out.

Again, I turned off the flash, but this time I used a slower shutter speed. If you do that, you'll want to steady your camera to keep the picture from coming out blurry. A tripod is always handy, but I just propped my camera up on a stack of books. And, of course, you'll want to invite your subject to remain steady as well.

Never underestimate luck
Because silhouette photography can be so dependent on the outside lighting conditions, some of your success will hinge on just being at the right place at the right time.