Silhouettes: C&C please

[bedantabd]

Does any of the following silhouette images work for anybody? If not, C&C to make them work is most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

1. Bird in Flight:


2. Tree:


3. Great Blue Heron:

[Sergio M.]

I'm no expert, Bedanta, but they all work for me. The second one kind of throws my eyes off a little because of the reflection in the water. At first I thought it was two different images (but that could just be me). Other than that I find them to be all very pleasing silhouette's.

Serge

[terrib]

I like the third one a lot. The colors are really nice.

The first one, the sun is a little bright for me. But that could just be me. I like the shape of the bird and again the color.

The second one, I don't really like that the land cuts between the sky and the reflections. Like Serge, it confuses my eyes.

[WJT]

Hi Bedanta, they are all technically good and have rich colour. I like the simplicity of the first one and I'm sue it's harder shot to take than the other two. Keep at it and look for interesting subjects around hat time of day and you will get many more.

[Mark von Kanel]

#1 good shot and it works, holiday brochure stuff maybe a little soft but it still works.
#2 too much detail in the mid ground for it to be a silhouette and really is a little busy as well.
#3 Now this is a nice shot but the subject is to well exposed to called a silhouette however i wouldn't use it this way personally id crop in some more and lighten the bird, i think it would stand up as an excellent image in is own right, the colours are wonderful if you do want it as a silhouette then darken the bird some more.

[Mike Buckley]

I like #1 and #3 and find #2 problematic, in all cases for the reasons already discussed.

You might want to consider changing the frame so it matches the overall tonality of your silhouette. Currently, the frame is darker than your silhouettes and this is a distraction for me.

I disagree that a silhouette by definition needs to be devoid of detail in the subject. I actually tend to prefer silhouettes that reveal a minimal amount of detail there. Yet I still consider them silhouettes because they reveal so little detail that they would be failures if they were otherwise intended to display the normal range of detail.

[bedantabd]

I like #1 and #3 and find #2 problematic, in all cases for the reasons already discussed.

You might want to consider changing the frame so it matches the overall tonality of your silhouette. Currently, the frame is darker than your silhouettes and this is a distraction for me.

Yes Mike, I agree with you about the dark and distracting border. Thanks for pointing out. But I'm not quite sure about the overall tonality of the image, is it yellow/golden/combination of both? Should I replace the border with something like yellow/golden/combination of both?

I disagree that a silhouette by definition needs to be devoid of detail in the subject. I actually tend to prefer silhouettes that reveal a minimal amount of detail there. Yet I still consider them silhouettes because they reveal so little detail that they would be failures if they were otherwise intended to display the normal range of detail.

Regarding details in the foreground subject in a silhouette I'm not too sure, but in this case I do like those little details in the heron. Of course, it's all about personal tastes.......

[bedantabd]

#1 good shot and it works, holiday brochure stuff maybe a little soft but it still works.

Thanks Mark, agree about the softness, particularly at higher resolution. The focus was not spot on, but the holiday brochure stuffs are not printed at larger sizes, I presume.........

#2 too much detail in the mid ground for it to be a silhouette and really is a little busy as well.

Discarded, no questions asked.

#3 Now this is a nice shot but the subject is to well exposed to called a silhouette however i wouldn't use it this way personally id crop in some more and lighten the bird, i think it would stand up as an excellent image in is own right, the colours are wonderful if you do want it as a silhouette then darken the bird some more.

Let me see if I have a picture with more details in the bird, else will try to bring in some more details in PP.

Thanks again.

[bedantabd]

Thanks Serge, Terri and Wayne, for your encouraging words.

[Mike Buckley]

Bedanta,

My comment about the frame confused you when I mentioned that its color should match the overall tonality of the silhouette. To clarify that, try matching the overall tonality of the silhouetted subject.