Portrait photography tip: Playing with backlighting

Thursday 10 December 2020, 14:07 by Elja Trum | 5,313 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Large windows that do not let direct sunlight through are perfect for taking beautiful photos. You can use such a window as a huge softbox, allowing the light to fall nicely onto your model from the side. But using a window as backlighting also works really well.

Ankie - f/4, 1/100s, 1250 ISO @ 120mm
For backlighting, you photograph into the light. In this case, towards the window. On automatic mode, your camera will probably compensate for the brighter light in the background.

That is why it is a good idea to take this kind of photo in manual mode. Alternatively, you can use your camera's exposure compensation, using plus values.

You can compensate so far that the background is completely blown out and your model is well exposed, but it is often more attractive to keep your model slightly underexposed.

You are actually exposing for the light falling on the edges of your model. You want the bright areas there to be well exposed. This still leaves you with plenty of dark areas. The trick is to make sure those rim-lit areas are interesting enough to carry your photo.

Ankie - f/4, 1/125s, 1250 ISO @ 120mm
That is why it often works well to have your model turn their face slightly towards the window. So that one side is still well lit.

This kind of light also works very well when more skin is visible on your model. The grazing light emphasises the shapes and texture.

Grazing light

When you are taking backlit photos, it is also a good idea to take some photos straight away in which the light source, the window in this case, is not visible.

You can use the same camera settings, giving you the beautiful grazing light while allowing you to work with a dark background, for example.

Ankie - f/4, 1/100s, 2500 ISO @ 120mm
This gives you completely different photos straight away, while you continue to make use of the grazing light, which is precisely what makes backlit shots so beautiful.

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