This page was started to put some of the “artsy” silhouettes I have prepared from images taken over the years. But silhouettes can be used for many educational purposes. Removing color and grayscale from images tends to emphasize the shape and outlines of subjects. Many of the subjects below can be identified by their shapes. No color is needed.

Silhouettes are valuable because often a subject is seen backlit – and appears mostly as a silhouette. This is common in birding, where one is often looking up towards a bird in the canopy against a bright sky. But it can also be true for mammals or trees in the distance. For plants, the silhouette emphasizes the growth form (habit) of the plant – this can be an important characteristic for identification.

The silhouettes shown here are made by converting the original color images to grayscale, and then manipulating the histograms to increase the contrast. Some images are not strictly silhouettes – they are grayscale images with high contrast. Many different image manipulation applications (here Aperture or Graphic Converter have been used) can be used produce similar results. Of course, some subjects lend themselves better to silhouettes – birds flying against a bright sky or trees with the sun behind them.

The images shown on this page are from various parts of the world including South Africa, Australia, the SW USA, Florida, Hawaii, Norway, and French Polynesia. Perhaps a few other places if I look more carefully. Images can also be organized by geographical location – though for this it might be better to use color photos.

More silhouettes are below.

And yet more silhouettes are below… there are almost an endless quantity that can be produced – though photos taken to intentionally become silhouettes are easier to convert (dark subject against a bright background).

and yet more!

All of the above images can be organized and made into mosaics with information inserted. All it requires is time!

back to Photography page