A PLACE IN THE SUNSET

James Paterson shows you how to shoot and combine images to create striking silhouette composites

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As any photographer worth their salty tripod legs knows, sunrise and sunset are good times to head to the beach with your camera. When the sun goes low and reflections tint the water, we can be treated to some of the most gorgeous sights of the great outdoors. But the best sunset photos capture more than just bold clouds and vibrant colours – what we need is a subject to frame against the sky. Because of the stark contrast between the sky and foreground, it’s often impossible to record detail in both; but instead, we have the opportunity to capture bold silhouettes.

You can have all kinds of fun crafting playful silhouetted portraits, and in this project we’ll show you how to shoot for a striking stitch. This involves capturing our subjects in lots of different positions around the frame, shooting a variety of poses and bringing in different props. By using a tripod to keep all the frames aligned, it’s a simple task to then combine the best poses into an eye-catching array of silhouettes.

Whether you want to combine portraits or capture a single frame at sundown, you’ll learn lots of tips and tricks. We’ll look at the ideal camera settings, the best angles, and posing suggestions. You’ll also find editing tips on how to bring a set of poses together, and a Photoshop guide in the video.

1 SHOOT INTO THE SUN