Backlight shooting techniques that make portraits three-dimensional

Backlight shooting is a method of lighting in photography. Backlighting in a broad sense should include full backlighting and side backlighting.

The basic characteristics of backlight are: from the perspective of light position, full backlight is the light that faces the camera and shines from the back of the subject, also called "backlight"; side backlight is the light that shines from the left and right sides of the camera. For the light emitted to the subject from the 135° rear side, 1/3 is the light-receiving surface of the subject and 2/3 is the backlight surface. From the perspective of light ratio, the subject and background are in darkness or 2/3 of the area is in darkness, so the light ratio between light and dark is large and the contrast is strong. From the perspective of light effects, backlighting produces outline light for opaque objects; transmitted light for transparent or translucent objects; and flashing light for liquids or water surfaces.

If we can use backlight photography properly, it will undoubtedly be of great value in enhancing the artistic effect of photographic creation.

In a backlit scene, the character's hair will be more obvious and beautiful, the edge of the body will also appear, and the entire character will become more three-dimensional. This is an important reason why many people like to shoot with backlight in the field of photography.

Below, we will organize and explain the shooting with backlight. Take shooting a portrait as an example. The sun (or light) is behind the portrait, and the light distribution of the entire scene, including the face and front of the portrait, will appear relatively dark. This is the so-called "backlight shooting".

Most cameras will preset to use the entire viewfinder as the basis for metering. Due to the backlight environment, the light behind the portrait is relatively strong. After average calculation, the camera will consider the portrait to be It is normal for the front of the camera to be dark, which is why a "big black face" appears when photographed in a backlit environment.

Solution

1. We can use the concept of "exposure compensation" to deal with "backlight photography", that is, increase the exposure to make the face brighter, but This method will increase the brightness of the entire photo, so not only will the face become brighter, but the background will also become brighter, resulting in a loss of background details.

2. A better method is to use a reflector to reflect the light on the character's face. For example, in the picture above, since the light enters from behind the model, we use a reflector in front of the model to reflect the light on the character's face. You can easily achieve the normal exposure of the light on the face.

Selection of reflectors

On sunny days, you can use white reflectors to soften the light. On cloudy days, you can use silver or golden reflectors. To reflect more light.

In fact, you can also make your own reflectors by cutting and pasting Styrofoam boards and silver paper into homemade reflectors.

Backlight photography is a common technique. Proper use of reflectors or other fill-light equipment will give the shooting results unexpected effects!