How to improve your backlit portrait photography skills

Introduction: In the past photography tutorials, there was often a principle that you should let the sun be behind you and shoot with smooth light, so that the front of the subject is illuminated. This is an old and well-known piece of photography advice, and in the film era, photos taken following this advice were often very successful. But in the current era of digital photography, rules are often not broken or established. Why don't we think about it, if we shoot directly into the sun, can we also get eye-catching backlit photos? Nowadays, backlit portraits have become a favorite among photographers. One of the shooting methods, in this issue I will explain to you how to use backlighting to take portrait photos with rich details and subtle tones. Methods to improve backlight portrait photography skills

1. Understand the angle of light

The angle of light is also very important. For example, the sun at noon can be used as a backlight source, but because of the angle of the light source Very high, so the effect it produces at this time is closer to the top light, while the intensity of the backlight is smaller. When the sun is close to the horizon in the morning or dusk, objects on the ground are basically completely backlit, so the effect is more prominent and intense. By the same token, winter is more suitable for taking backlit photos than summer, because the sun’s arc is very low in winter, so the backlight effect is better.

2. Understand the light conditions

Viewing the scene from a backlit perspective may be difficult to control, and there are indeed several issues that require special attention, but Once you master shooting with backlight, you have a powerful way to make your photos unique, making other photos taken with forward light instantly eclipse. Not all situations and all subjects are suitable for backlighting, so it is necessary to remain cautious for any experimental creation. Learning to accurately understand the lighting conditions and correctly selecting subjects suitable for backlighting are the keys to successful backlighting. Theoretically, any form of light can be used as a backlight source, but the stronger the light, the better the backlight effect.

3. Character themes that can be created with backlighting

There are many portrait themes suitable for shooting with backlighting: fresh characters, wedding portraits, documentary humanities, creative portraits, etc. If you want to express the character's hair, contours and special aesthetic effects, backlighting is a powerful means of expression. Therefore, people with blond hair and beautiful silhouettes are very suitable for shooting with backlight, because it can emphasize the details of the subject's outline. Backlit figures will also cast long shadows in the direction of the camera, providing an additional point of interest in the frame.

Fresh portraits

Documentary humanities

Wedding portraits

4. Exposure and metering methods

Even if you throw away Regardless of the subject and the light pattern, there is only one thing that can determine the success or failure of a backlit photo: exposure. As long as you master the correct exposure, you can almost completely control backlighting. The important thing is that you eliminate the background and get the correct exposure for your subject. For most subjects, it is normal to choose a metering mode based on the overall situation of the picture, such as evaluative metering or matrix metering. However, if you still choose this metering mode when shooting in backlight, it will almost certainly fail, because the light from the background will seriously mislead the metering system, causing the subject to be severely overexposed or even turned into a silhouette. In order to avoid this problem, you need to switch to spot metering or area metering mode, so that you can perform more accurate metering only on the area of ??the subject. In this metering mode, background light will not affect the camera's judgment, and the subject can be correctly exposed.

Select spot metering mode to meter the subject directly. This metering method ensures that your subject is correctly exposed. If your SLR camera does not provide a spot metering mode, you can also use the following method: shorten the distance or lengthen the focal length, let the subject occupy the entire field of view, shoot in manual mode, and then recompose the picture.

5. Make full use of composition and contour light

Carefully consider the light and background. Usually the sun at a low angle is the most suitable as a backlight source. But try taking backlit portraits against a clean dark background or in the woods to make the model stand out more clearly and emphasize the dramatic light effect.

Whether in the studio or outdoors, backlit portraits can always present a unique style. When both the character and the backlight are in the right position, the latter creates a beautiful rim light around the character's head, giving the hair a soft, shimmering sheen and making the character pop out from the dark background.

6. Control the light correctly

1. Think about the light

When shooting a light-colored background, you can emphasize that your subject is backlit position, so that the area receiving light remains relatively balanced, making the picture more vivid. At the same time, it can also reduce the area of ??bright areas behind the subject and eliminate interference from these areas.

2. Test exposure

Carry out bracketing exposure to examine the impact of different exposure parameters on the picture effect. Exposing the highlight area around the subject can create a dramatic effect, with only the outline of the subject visible. This effect can also be achieved by adjusting the exposure settings when post-processing RAW files.

3. Reduce the contrast

When the sunlight is weak or the position is low in the sky, the contrast of the picture will be reduced, thus reducing the dead black shadows and dead white shadows. Highlights.

4. Lens hood

When shooting in backlight, be sure to install a hood on the lens to avoid glare. When shooting directly at a light source, glare is often one of the biggest problems, so you might as well keep the lens with a hood. If necessary, you can also block it with your hands or paper over the lens. In addition, you can also experiment by hiding the sun just behind the subject to see what interesting effects you can get.