The Visual Toolbox: 60 Lessons for Stronger Photographs

Lesson 29. Light: Backlight

Back one last time to our imagined scenario in the field. Now keep walking to the right, and walk until the sun is directly in front of you, though it’s partly obscured by the leaves of the tree. The tree is now completely backlit. Standing in the shadow of the tree itself now, you look up to see the red leaves of the tree ablaze with the light as it streams through the leaves instead of bouncing off them. The grass in the field around you is the same—an impossible green, like it’s lit from within. Dust motes dance on the wind, more visible than you remember them before, lit, like the grass, with transmitted light. The trunk of the tree is dark, almost black, without depth or texture, but if you look carefully you’ll ...