Backlight Photography Tips

Backlight photography is not a new topic, it is a basic topic of photography, and most authors have written or mentioned this photography method and its application. I really like shooting with backlight, so I would like to share my experience with you.

Front light, also called smooth light, is a very popular light source for travel, landscape, and portrait photography. The main reason is that it can illuminate the subject and make the subject and the background appear more distinct. The exposure of the sky and the environment are consistent to achieve a balanced light ratio. Therefore, photos taken under smooth lighting are unlikely to have the problem of too dark shadows or too bright highlights, and can make the colors look more saturated. However, front-lit subjects are often facing the sun. When photographing people, they often cannot open their eyes, and the subject's expression in the photo will naturally not be very good.

Front light portrait shooting

Pure front light will make the image look less three-dimensional. Sometimes, we still like slightly angled light, such as side light or backlight. Side light or backlight shooting can better highlight the three-dimensional effect of the subject. However, due to the angle of light exposure, the two types of light will produce a large contrast during shooting, which increases the difficulty of shooting. Shadows will appear on the subject during portrait photography. We usually use flash or reflectors. Add some fill light to the shadows of the portrait.

Backlight portrait shooting

Backlight group photo - I remember three years ago when I took the students from the flash class to the location for shooting, I saw a beautiful dusk light in the background. I yelled and everyone came together. Looking over, I retained a happy and touching moment.

It’s easy to say, but how to deal with backlight?

In fact, there are many ways to use backlight. One of them is that the subject is in a backlit position and the background brightness is ignored when shooting and the focus is on metering. On the subject (large backlight), this method of expression is more natural and has a dreamy feel. At this time, if you point the lens directly at the sun and enlarge the aperture as much as possible, the larger the aperture, the greater the degree of light diffusion. If it is high, the dreamy feeling will be more intense, and there will be a beautiful spot effect. If you want to reduce the shadows in the backlight position when shooting, you can use a reflector to fill in the light. However, a large backlight will only show a dead white sky, losing the details of the background.

Flash fill light. Backlight processing method

What is calendering? In fact, calendering is nothing more than fill light. It just looks like background light in the performance of the image. It is suppressed by the fill light of the flash, so most people call this "calendering". In fact, the method of calendering is the same as the fill light, except that the added flash output is the same or even brighter than the background light. This shooting method is more common in business. It is a shooting method that can express fashion and delicate light and shadow levels. In addition to highlighting the subject, it can also make background details (such as clouds in the sky) appear (the details of the background that are lost when shooting with large backlight).

The shooting method is as follows:

When shooting, you must first meter the background sky. If the exposure of the sky background is f/11, 1/200 second, ISO 100, measure the background. After shooting the sky, then adjust the camera to M mode, and set the aperture, shutter, and ISO values ??to f/11, 1/200 second, and ISO 100.

Use the flash synchronization shutter time of 1/250 second, mainly because the camera and most flash triggers can only support 1/250 second flash synchronization (x-sync), as long as the camera shutter speed If it exceeds the upper limit of 1/250 second, it will not be able to synchronize with the flash, and the captured image will not be able to fully receive the light of the flash. However, some high-end flash triggers can support high-speed synchronization, but although there is no shutter speed limit flash synchronization problem, as the shutter speed is higher, the GN value of the flash will become weaker. Although the maximum synchronization speed between shutter and flash is 1/250 second, because not all cameras and flash triggers + flashes can operate at the maximum synchronization speed (usually related to the quality of the flash trigger), for safety reasons, it is usually 1/200 second or 1/160 second is the safety line.

When the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO value are all set, use the flash to fill in the portrait so that the exposure of the portrait can be increased to the same exposure as the background sky. The white balance is adjusted to "Sun Light".

I had a very expensive "light boy" for the day's shooting

In the above method, if the output rate of the flash is increased by one level, and the background light measurement is reduced by the aperture by one level ( f/16) so that the background becomes darker (also one level darker), and the flash will fill in the light compared to the background light, which is the so-called "pressure".

Such calendering uses a small aperture (f/16), the depth of field is relatively deep, and the subject is as clear as the background. If you want a shallow depth of field effect (clear front and hazy behind), you need to use Go to a larger aperture (such as f/2.8). When using a large aperture and high shutter speed, the flash requires a flash synchronization exceeding 1/250 seconds. When the flash synchronization exceeds 1/250 seconds, it is called High Speed ??Sync (HSS).

When using high-speed flash synchronization, there are requirements for the medium to connect the camera and flash. Ordinary flash triggers worth hundreds of Hong Kong dollars can only give us a shutter synchronization speed of less than 1/250 seconds. We can choose to A high-end flash trigger, or my favorite and cheapest flash trigger. The trigger wire can support TTL and high-speed flash synchronization. It is very convenient and accurate, and the price is reasonable. Its only disadvantage is that you can only use one. If you use multiple flash lights, you will have to use an advanced flash trigger.