Prints of London and New York city silhouettes.
Many of my panoramic prints are taken at sunrise and sunset which means that the subject is back lit. If I want the subject to be in silhouette I’ll take a light reading from the sky, or brightest bit, which will mean the subject will be underexposed and therefore be thrown into silhouette. Often I bracket which means taking 3 shots; 1. one shot using the average light reading 2. one shot over exposing by one f. stop and 3. one shot underexposing by one f. stop. You can see this panoramic here.
The print below was taken in late afternoon and because I took a reading from the sky and reduced it by one stop. The sky was slightly underexposed giving the starburst effect and the City Hall building was nicely under exposed giving me the silhouette I wanted. Here it is in the London Black and white gallery.
Smoggy cities give interesting colour effects at sunrise and sunset. This sunset shot in New York on colour film is fantastic. This was shot on Fuji velvia 64 ISO. There is very little grain and the colours are so clean and smooth. The sunset is also reflected on the water. Even printed at a large size this print is silky smooth.
Silhouettes of city landscapes are particularly effective if they are printed in large sizes. Many of the panoramics in the London panoramic section are silhouettes. Offices generally need one or two large prints within the set for standalone areas like the reception area or in a boardroom.