Emphasizing an Object with Silhouetting ................................................
A useful technique called silhouettinghelps break up symmetry by removing
most or all of the background of a photo or drawing, and then placing it off-
center on the background color or space. When you clean away the existing
background, the image’s foreground becomes more prominent. It provides an
extra dimension, somewhat like adding shadows. The detail on the edge of
the foreground is exposed and seems to thrust out of the page toward the
viewer.You can bring an object like the watch in Figure 8-4 to life by first removing
the background, erasing it by using tools in a graphics application. Then it
looks like Figure 8-5.By tilting the watch so it’s not perfectly vertical and placing it on an offset
background, you give it additional prominence, as shown in Figure 8-6.A primary difference between Figure 8-4 and 8-6 is that in 8-4, the watch is
framed by a background. In Figure 8-6, the background doesn’t surround the
watch, so the watch appears to be placed on top of the screen, not sunk into
a background. Figure 8-6 adds motion, dynamism, and dimension to the rela-
tively static, sunken, flat image displayed in Figure 8-4.Figure 8-5:
Often,
erasing the
background
gives the
foreground
object
additional
clarity and
realism.Figure 8-4:
As shot, this
watch sinks
too much
into the
woodgrain
background.