Location Taken: Near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
Time Taken: June 2010
It seems like such a good photo idea, doesn’t it? Devil’s Tower, silhouetted against the bright sky, the iconic volcanic neck showing its classic shape.
Yeah, silhouettes aren’t fool-proof. They may get a high amount of contrast, which usually makes a picture more dynamic, but sometimes the light areas just get washed out too much and hurt the eye too much just from the apparent brightness.
The composition needs to be good, too. Since silhouettes are so dependent on the basic shape of the object, it needs to be positioned in a way to emphasize those shapes. Just snapping a photo in the general region of right doesn’t always work.
Oh, and when you have large areas of black or near-black, glare shows up better. There’s just a touch of reflection along the bottom edge. I was in a moving car when I took this and something a little bright (looks like the edge of a road map) caught enough light to reflect in the window. If it wasn’t against a black background, it wouldn’t show at all.
And finally, perhaps the most important and most difficult thing to note. If you’re going to take a photo with the sky being a prominent feature, make sure the clouds are something besides boring clumps scattered in awkward places. It makes all the difference.
