How do I make a silhouette?

[redwolfe]

I want to make a silhouette from a photograph using photoshop cs. Is that possible. If so, what are the steps?

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

You need to select the subject from the background.
There are many ways to do that, you could try a threshold, you could select with the lasso tool or you could use a quickmask and brush/eraser.
A threshold will give you black and white directly but with a selection you could simply fill the selection with black and invert the selection before filling with white (or whatever combinations you prefer.
If the edges are a litte ragged you could soften them with a mild blur.

Trojan.

 

[mscallisto]

Another way (with slightly different results) would be to apply the stamp filter.

Filter > Sketch > Stamp

Keep the Light/ Dark balance low (under 10)
Keep the Smoothness (under 5)

I usually go with the threashold method but it kinda depends on the picture and desired end effect