How do I shoot the backlight?

In the past photography courses, there was always a principle that the sun should be behind you to shoot along the light, so that the subject can receive light from the front. This is an old and well-known shooting suggestion. For the film age, the photos taken by following this suggestion are often very successful. But in today's digital photography era, the rules are often unbreakable. Why don't we think about it? If we are shooting in the sun, can we also get back-lit photos that make people shine? Now backlight portrait has become one of the shooting methods that movie friends prefer to try out. This issue of Xiaobian explains how to use backlight to shoot portrait photos with rich details and subtle tone.

1. It is also very important to know the angle of light. For example, the noon sunlight can be used as a backlight source, but because the angle of the light source is very high, the effect it produces at this time is closer to the top light, and the intensity of the backlight is relatively small. When the sun approaches the horizon in the morning or evening, the objects on the ground are basically completely illuminated by backlight, so the effect is more prominent and intense. By the same token, winter is more suitable for taking backlight photos than summer, because the position of the solar arc in winter is very low, and the effect of backlight is better.

second, know the lighting conditions. Looking at the scene from the perspective of backlight may make people feel difficult to control. Moreover, there are indeed a few problems that need special attention. But once you master backlight shooting, you have a powerful means to make your photos unique and make other photos taken in the light instantly eclipsed. Not all situations and all subjects are suitable for backlighting, so it is necessary to be cautious for any experimental creation. Learning to know the lighting conditions accurately and choosing the right person 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.

Third, the theme of characters that can be created by backlight is very rich: fresh characters, wedding photos, documentary humanities, creative portraits and so on. If you want to express the hair, outline and special aesthetic effect of a character, backlighting is a powerful means of expression. Therefore, people with blond hair and graceful figure are very suitable for shooting with backlight, because it can emphasize the details of the outline of the subject. People illuminated by backlight will also form long shadows in the direction towards the camera, thus providing additional points of interest for the picture.

Fresh portrait

Documentary humanities

Wedding photo

Fourth, exposure and metering methods Even if the subject and light form are not mentioned, there is only one thing that can determine the success or failure of backlit photos: exposure. As long as you master the correct exposure, you can almost completely control the backlight. What is important is that you need to eliminate the influence of background, so that the subject can be exposed correctly. For most subjects, it is not wrong to choose a metering mode based on the overall situation of the picture, such as evaluation metering or matrix metering. However, if you still choose this metering mode when shooting in backlight, it is almost doomed to fail, because the light from the background will seriously mislead the metering system, make the subject seriously overexposed and even become a silhouette. In order to avoid this problem, you need to switch to spot metering or area metering mode, so that you can only measure the area of the subject more accurately. In this metering mode, the background light will not affect the camera's judgment, and the subject can get the correct exposure.

select spot metering mode to directly meter the subject. This metering method can ensure that your subject is exposed correctly. If your SLR camera does not provide spot metering mode, you can also use the following methods: shorten the distance or lengthen the focal length, let the subject occupy the whole picture field of vision, shoot in manual mode, and then re-compose.

5. Make full use of composition and profile light, and carefully consider the light and background. Usually, the low-angle sun is the most suitable backlight source. However, try to shoot portraits in a clean dark background, or in the Woods, so that the models can be more vividly highlighted and the dramatic lighting effect can be emphasized.

whether in the studio or outdoors, backlit portraits always present a unique style. When the figure and the backlight are in the right position, the latter will form a beautiful profile light around the figure's head, which will make the hair appear soft and shiny, and make the figure jump out of the dark background.

6. Control the light correctly

1. Think about the light

When shooting a light-colored background, you can emphasize the part of your subject that is illuminated by the backlight, so that the light-receiving area is relatively balanced and the picture is more vivid. At the same time, it can also reduce the area of the bright area behind the main body and eliminate the interference of these areas.

2. Experimental exposure

Surround exposure is carried out to investigate the influence of different exposure parameters on the picture effect. Exposing the high-light area around the subject can create a dramatic effect, and only the outline of the subject is visible. This effect can also be achieved by adjusting the "exposure" setting when post-processing RAW files.

3. Reduce the contrast

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

4, hood

When shooting in the backlight, be sure to install a hood on the lens to avoid glare. Glare is often one of the biggest problems when shooting directly at the light source, so you might as well keep the lens with a hood at all times, and if necessary, you can block it above the lens with your hands or cardboard. In addition, you can try to "hide" the sun just behind the subject and see what kind of interesting effect you can get.