Wilderness Images

T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house.
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that new photo gear soon would be there.

The photographers were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of great light danced  in their heads.
Dreaming of great images they soon would make,
pictures of animals, field, forest, and lake.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
I grabbed my camera and snatched up my flash,
tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
made magic the light on the objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
I must get this shot and I must be real quick,
I push down the shutter, but alas there’s no click!

I can’t believe the luck, my batteries are dead,
where is a spare set I think in my head.
I fresh set of lithiums I have in my bag,
If only I could get there, man what a drag!

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
the prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
I think to myself I know his next move,
down the chimney he’ll come, I really must move.

I grab the fresh batteries and say a few prayers,
I load up my camera as I dash down the stairs.
I hit the landing and stopped with great awe.
Standing before me I must relay what I saw.

He was dressed all in fur,from his head to his foot,
and his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of new photo gear he had flung on his back,
all kinds of new gadgets filled out his great sack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
I stood there slack-jawed utterly dumbfounded,
my camera at my side, all my plans were confounded.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
and filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
With a twinkle and a nod, up the chimney he rose.
I fired off the camera. All I got was his toes.

Once he was gone I snapped out of my trance.
I smiled as I realized I had missed my big chance.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, good luck and good light!”

Because lighting can vary greatly in a silhouette setting the exposure can be a challenge. There are two ways that you can set your exposure for a silhouette.  How you do this depends on your chosen shooting mode. The first option would be if you are shooting in either full auto, aperture priority, or shutter priority mode. In any of these modes you would meter the scene and dial in an exposure compensation to compensate for the usually brighter background, and make the picture.  The downside of this method is that depending on the situation (how bright the background is, whether or not the sun is in your composition etc.) you could be dialing in an exposure compensation anywhere from +1/2 a stop to +3 stops, and even if you do this a lot you are really just making an educated guess as to how much compensation you’re particular situation will need.

The method that I prefer is to use the manual metering mode and the spot meter of my camera. When using this method I look at the scene and try to decide what area of the scene I would like to appear as a mid-tone. In an image such as the silhouetted frog image a medium green. So I would place my spot meter on the leaf set my camera and make the image. In the case of a sunrise or sunset the spot I meter will become a medium orange color. Using the example of the mother and chick loon below I would place my spot meter on the area just over the top of the birds use this reading to set my camera and shoot the scene as metered this would place that color as a medium or mid-tone orange, rendering my subject as a dark featureless silhouette.

The correct exposure for a sunrise or sunset silhouette can be a very subjective thing; generally as long as your subject is rendered a dark featureless shade the background can be as light or as dark as you choose.

This series of tips as well as many others are posted on my facebook page

Good luck and good light

Steve