Simple silhouette setup

Here's a simple setup that will yield some impressive silhouette portraits. All you need is a window, a sheet of black foam board (available for a couple of dollars at a craft or office store), a subject and your camera.


Place the black foam board next to a window in your home - you don't need direct sunlight; in fact a north window works very well for this. Place your subject a 3-4 feet in front of the board, then frame the subject against the backdrop.

You'll probably need to drop your exposure value down one or two stops to keep the camera from overexposing the picture (the black background will make it want to give it more light than it needs). Once you get the setting, you're in business. Focus on the subject's eye and have fun!