Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers

136 Using Light

Back Lighting

Back Lighting

Back lighting is lighting that comes from behind a

subject. In other words, the camera is looking directly

at the light source, or would be, except for the subject

that’s between the light and the camera.

If the subject is entirely opaque, a back-lit photo will

probably be entirely dark except for the outline of the

subject and (perhaps) light peeking around its edges.

This usually isn’t the point of back lighting (although it

might be a fun effect to experiment with). When back

lighting works, the photos that result are largely about

transparency.

For this reason, back lighting is an unusual choice for

portraits of people, because usually you want to see the

features of someone’s face in a portrait. Back lighting,

as an accent, in combination with other lighting, can

add a dramatic touch to ordinary portraits (see the

photo of Mathew on page 110 for an example).

Transparency usually implies a subject that is at least

somewhat translucent, as well as a light source that can

be positioned behind the subject. Flowers, grasses, and

leaves are often great natural subjects with high trans

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arent qualities. Surprisingly, non-botanical subjects

such as clouds can also work well (there’s an example

of a photo showing back-lit clouds on page 121). You

might also consider things liked old-fashioned glass

jars, windows, and ...