How to take silhouette in bright sunny days?

Bright sunny days are often considered a threat for a photographer. It is believed that the harsh & bright sunlight in the peak hours is disastrous. Everything looks so flat at this time, no shadows, no bright colors. But, do you know that it is the best time for silhouettes?

Photographing a subject against strong, blue, mid-day sky creates great silhouettes. Just lie on the ground and cover everything and anything that you can see straight up and shoot. You can pick anything that is there at that time, a flying bird, Aeroplane, tree.... anything. Just ensure one thing, that the contrast between your subject and the foreground is high. This usually means exposing your shot for the sky itself.

To ensure that the sky is exposed, focus the camera on the brightness of the sky and make sure that your subject is in the frame as well. If the sky is very bright, or featureless, your camera may find it difficult to auto-focus. Your camera's auto-focus function works by matching contrasts of tones. It it doesn't see any contrast or subject, it has nothing to focus. So find something that can be used to focus. You can also put the focus point near the silhouette subject (not on it). It might just work. Once you have managed to get your camera to focus on the sky the silhouette subject will be relatively darker and you have your silhouette. The darker your subject the better it will be in silhouette.