Searching for Silhouettes on a City Street at Sunrise
The orange glow of the sun that floods the landscape at sunrise or sunset is a great time to photograph silhouettes and shadows. Here’s how I maximize that opportunity.
If you’re lucky enough to be walking on a city street facing due east or west when the sun is low in the sky, it’s time to take out your camera. That’s when you can easily find magical silhouettes and the shadows of people bathed in sunlight.
Your eyes may only sense a blinding fog of bright orange. But your camera can likely peer through that optical interference and capture enough detail to be later optimized in post.
When editing these photos, I find it ideal to focus on deepening the silhouette effect in a targeted fashion. I accomplish that using Adobe Lightroom with the AI-powered Masking/Objects tool. That allows me to easily select the silhouetted images in the foreground to darken them further without affecting the rest of the photo.
Here are a few examples.
Baltimore, Maryland’s Harbor East (2025)
I snapped this sunrise shot as two men walked to work by the marina.
Facing East at Grand Central Terminal (2012)
Though not technically a street, the Main Concourse at Grand Central channeled the morning’s rays onto New York City commuters as they rushed to their jobs. (I think some of these folks may already be late, as you can tell from the clock.)
Facing West on a Street in Barcelona (2008)
These two women were enjoying their sunset stroll.
Morning Stretch in Hong Kong (2005)
I captured this quiet moment as I explored the neighborhood during a work trip. Even if the sun isn’t in the perfect position, a shaded space with a bright background can offer your camera a similar silhouette effect.
The Power of a Good Silhouette
Whether you have your smartphone or a mirrorless camera to compose your photo (I used my Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200D for my Baltimore pictures), sunrise and sunset are perfect times to capture the landscape.
If you can frame the bright sun in your shot, that’s great. But for me, I’m often more interested in the dark shadows.
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