Last week I talked about how to create a silhouette in an image. I hope some of you were able to start experimenting. Today I am going to share some very cool silhouettes with you as inspiration for your efforts.

The first one comes from Erika Ray. I saw this image in her Flickr stream and just loved it. I think it perfectly captures that feeling of being stuck inside on a rainy day (or sick day or any other day that you are stuck inside). Erika said that she shot this quickly and, therefore, the way in which it was metered and shot didn't allow for a complete silhouette. This image is not a complete silhouette because you see some detail in the little boy's shirt, etc. You also see a little bit of detail of the outside, which I really like for this particular shot. 

This amazing shot also caught my eye on Flickr. I found this on Caroline's Flickr stream and she also agreed to let me share it with you.

I love the drama of this image. The figure looks so much like a mermaid, doesn't she (or he)? The colors of the sunset are just so striking and the clouds have a beautiful shape.

Both of these scenarios make for fairly simple silhouettes. In both cases, you have a very bright background behind the subject and a darker foreground. To test this out, you don't need to have a lovely mermaid model or a sweet babe at the window. Just to get a feel for it, you can use a tree in front of a sunset or something as simple as a chair in front of the window. As you experiment, practice with the various metering modes on your DSLR and see how they affect the final image.

Your feedback, questions and comments keep me excited about these lessons so please share your thoughts, links, images and questions. You can include links to your images, flickr streams, blogs, etc. in the comments section below. You can also join us online and submit images to The Monday Lesson Flickr Pool. Thanks for sharing!

For those of you interested in taking a more in depth class at my studio, check out the upcoming beginner DSLR evening series, the intermediate class and our upcoming Downtown photo safari! Hope to see you guys there!