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Assignment: Turn High Contrast into a Colorful Silhouette

Don't be bashful! If you want comments, give comments. You don't need to be an expert photographer to express your opinion about the work of others. You don't need to go into great depth. A simple remark about cropping, composition, color, subject matter, etc. can be of just as much help to a budding photographer as an in-depth critique.

Creating colorful silhouettes is a lot of fun because you can reveal common subjects in a graphic and dramatic way. And making silhouettes with a camera is almost as much fun as the ones that you cut out of construction paper in grammar school. For this assignment, find an interesting shape and photograph it against a bright background. You can choose a sunset sky, a white wall, or any bright background — just use your imagination.

I took my shot for this assignment at the Mystic Aquarium while I was trying to get shots of curious penguins that came up to the glass to look at people (maybe the penguins call it a human zoo). I wanted to get a shot of penguins and people, but didn’t have much luck. Then a mother and her son showed up, and when the mother made the pointing gesture and the son looked up, I knew I would like the shot. The colorful aquarium made an nice background for the shot, and all I had to do was trust the meter reading of the water. Taken with an 18-70mm Nikkor zoom lens. 1/125 sec., f/5.6, at ISO 400.

Remember to visit www.pwassignments.com after you complete this assignment and share your favorite photo! It’s a community of enthusiastic photographers and a great place to view what other readers have created. You can also post comments, and read encouraging suggestions and feedback.