I didn't want to do the typical thing in front of a sunset. I wanted to try something a little different. My idea of silhouette is not losing every single bit of detail in the silhouette, but having it be dark enough that the shape gets significantly more important than the details. If you look up silhouette in wikipedia, they have a photo of the Taj Mahal that they say is a silhouette. You can still see the details if you look hard, yet the shape is definitely the prominent thing.
Anyway, back to the idea. I wanted a person silhouetted in a doorway. One problem is my husband is too tall! It's hard to get him silhouetted!
Also, just a person silhouetted wasn't enough. I really wanted a person in bed. Haven't you stayed up late reading a scary book? And then every single noise is magnified 10 fold and you jump at the slightest things? Your imagination runs wild.
So I tried to set up the shot. It was difficult to do. And I thank my husband and son for putting up with me during it. It's not as good as I would have liked, but it still is definitely in the realm of what I was going for.
In response to a comment: Does there always have to be one subject? When you're telling a story, can't your eye wander around a bit and take it all in? I know that people want a place for the eye to rest -- but I was actually hoping that this would have a little bit of tension because there isn't one central thing. I do wish they were a bit closer -- that does feel off. But I still don't want one subject in this; I want them both. And I want people to be looking back and forth.
And in response to Bear's comment: yes!! I hate that he's coming out of the bathroom!! But I didn't think they'd want to move the queen sized bed to the other side of the room to use the hallway door. :)
I did wonder if I could significantly darken the background, but I didn't think it would pass validation if asked, and plus, there's a light coming from in there! That was kind of problematic in my thoughts of darkening. That's what ruins the shot, imo. Not the silhouette vs not, but the fact that it's kind of a bright happy bathroom instead of a scary, dark place. :)
Thanks for the comments, both good and bad.
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There is no real clear subject in the photograph, is it the person in the bed or the guy with the knife? For me, the silhouette should be the subject and it should be clear that it is the subject. There is also a little to much light and visible detail in the knife guy to be a true silhouette.
I'm gonna show this to the Chairman of the Physics Department at William and Mary, your husband's in trouble! Oh, wait.... :-) Couple questions: what's Jcar doing in YOUR bed? And why would an attacker be coming from the BATHROOM with a KITCHEN knife? You need to fire the script continuity people, jejeje...
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