Please Post your Back lit Photos

[Brownbear]

I have seen several back lit photos on this forum that I think are gorgeous and I would like to ask members of C&C if they would post their back lit photos so I (and other members) can learn about back lighting and enhance our understanding of it, and why these photos are special when photographed correctly.

Thank you.

[Mike Buckley]

Sorry that I've shown this one previously but it's a good example.

Though it's not entirely back lit (notice the slight top lighting), it shows the advantages of back lighting. Light shining through hair from behind works very nicely so long as detail is not lost. I checked my histogram very carefully to ensure that there were no blown highlights. However, some people like the style of blown highlights in the hair, especially if the back lighting is not diffuse.

The problem with preserving the details in the highlights is that the side of the horse was underexposed. I lightened that area during post-processing.

Another advantage of back lighting is that the part of the subject facing the camera is not contrasty. As an example, the front side of this horse would be the same as if it was standing under a large shade tree that kept direct sunlight off it.

Notice also the effect of rim lighting, though it's slight in this because the lighting is a bit diffuse. The rim lighting I am referring to is most evident on the outside edges of the legs and head, as it helps define those areas and separate them from the background.

If the sun had been lower (if the back lighting had been stronger), there would also have been glorious highlights produced by light shining through the grass. The back lighting would also have been warmer if the sun had been closer to the horizon.

EDIT: Exactly as I finished typing this post, I heard a slight crack coming from the dining room. It was the sound of another broken stem of a wine glass. YESSSSSSSS!

[Brownbear]

Thank you Mike.. Gorgeous photo accompanied by a great explanation which is easy to follow... While I truly appreciate the beauty of your glass photos, I would love to see another horse photo of yours.

[Steve S]

There are varying degrees of backlighting. Mikes example is a soft backlighting..........you can see plenty of detail in the shadows.

This is a harder degree of backlighting. If I remember correctly, I shot this at around 9:30 AM , with the sun behind the flowers. I pushed my exposure as far as I could to the right, without blowing anything out. Then fixed what I could in post. The background was a row of dark pine trees , that went to pure black, when I exposed for the flowers.






This one is also a fairly hard backlight. Notice I pushed the highlights to the point of clipping the whites in the tail. A little shadow detail was wanted, at the expense of clipping the whites on the tail.





Their is nothing magical about taking a backlit photo. You only get one exposure. Push it as far as you can to the right. Check your histograms, to make shure your camera didn't get fooled by the backlighting.(use exposure comp. if it did, as needed) If the subject is still too dark, then the backlighting is too harsh, and you will have to add fill flash to pull the shot off.


I often take images of birds in a slight backlight, and use a flash to fill in the shadows. (the reason is, if I expose for the backlit background and use fill flash, my shutter speeds are higher)

[Brownbear]

Thank you for sharing Steve... Great explanation and how to's are appreciated. Beautiful photos... I see that I have taken a hard back lit photos of flowers before...

And now that I think I understand, I think I can contribute to this thread. I think this caterpillar is back lit because of the light along the hairs?




PS I would love to see more back lit photos, although I can't comment on each one, and thank everyone individually, I sure would enjoy seeing more back lit photos.

[Mike Buckley]

I would describe your photo, Christina, as similar to mine in that it is somewhat backlit but also top lit.

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice photos, Steve. I would describe those, unlike mine and Christina's, as classic back lighting.

Christina: Notice the very nice rim lighting created by back lighting that is not diffused.

[Steve S]

Thanks christina, mike. A few more examples......................



This is a very soft backlight. I decided to expose for the background light and leave the subjects slightly darker, but with a little detail.................




Mildly backlit and fill flash to brighten the subject......................





Softly backlit in the early morning light. The angle of the shot kept the heron out of the skyline (the background is the far hillside which looks blue in the early morning light) Again the exposure was pushed to the right........................





Backlit in the soft evening sun. Again the subject was kept out of the skyline, and the snow on the ground helped add some reflected fill light to the subject. Just beautiful light, doesn't get any better..........................

[Brownbear]

Mike, thank you for confirming that my caterpillar is front and back lit... it means I am starting to see the light

With respect to Steve's photo is the rim lighting the nice lighting along the upper back and neck, and the beautiful lighting along the edges of the flower? What do you mean by back lighting that is not diffused?

Very nice photos, Steve. I would describe those, unlike mine and Christina's, as classic back lighting.

Christina: Notice the very nice rim lighting created by back lighting that is not diffused.

[Brownbear]

Steve... Thank you for posting this amazing set of photos... Exceptionally stunning and these portray what I think people mean when they say back lighting is special. All are gorgeous but the deer are my favourites...

But beautiful as it is, I can't pick out the back lighting in the hummingbird?

Thanks christina, mike. A few more examples......................



This is a very soft backlight. I decided to expose for the background light and leave the subjects slightly darker, but with a little detail.................




Mildly backlit and fill flash to brighten the subject......................





Softly backlit in the early morning light. The angle of the shot kept the heron out of the skyline (the background is the far hillside which looks blue in the early morning light) Again the exposure was pushed to the right........................





Backlit in the soft evening sun. Again the subject was kept out of the skyline, and the snow on the ground helped add some reflected fill light to the subject. Just beautiful light, doesn't get any better..........................

[Steve S]

The hummingbird shot was taken , in the shade, under a tree. The light was behind the bird and bouncing in, off the ground, creating a backlit shot. If I would have taken the shot without the flash, the bird would have been very dark and underexposed. But by using a flash, I exposed for the bright background, and lit the hummingbird and flowers with the flash and bounce card.(I also used a reflector on the left side to bounce more of the light from the flash.)


This wasn't a really hard backlighting. I could still see some detail in the hummingbirds, but needed some fill light to even things out.

[Brownbear]

Thank you Steve. Very helpful to know.

[Shadowman]

[pnodrog]

There have been some great examples posted. I did not have a keyword for backlight so I quickly went through my catalogue adding it when I spotted them. Interestingly there seemed to be a higher ratio of backlit in the B&W than colour but I have not tried to figure out why at the moment.

The key component seemed to be either delicate silhouette, translucence or fine fringe detail.

[NorthernFocus]

[Mike Buckley]

Mike, thank you for confirming that my caterpillar is front and back lit

It's actually not. I think that's because you're probably not attending to the exactitude of the terminology rather than because you're seeing the light incorrectly.

I think your photo is both back lit and top lit. The only way a subject can be lit from both the front and rear is if more than one light source is used or if the light source from the rear is also being reflected onto the front of the subject.

With respect to Steve's photo is the rim lighting the nice lighting along the upper back and neck, and the beautiful lighting along the edges of the flower?

Yes. Look up "rim lighting" on the Internet for a more accurate description and examples.

What do you mean by back lighting that is not diffused?

Lighting that has no obstruction between the light source and the subject is not diffused. An example would be lighting provided by the sun when there are no clouds, dust, pollution and the like between the sun and the subject. Any particles of moisture or solids always diffuse. (I think clouds are particles of moisture but I could be wrong.) You might want to revisit Light: Science and Magic again, as the book has a very clear explanation of it. You can surely find other explanations on the Internet.

[Brownbear]

Thank you to all for sharing your back lit photos... I think they are all especially gorgeous and I intend to look for back-lit photo opportunities.

Mike, thank you for clarifying.. Clouds yes, and interesting that dust and pollution, and particles of moisture also contribute to diffuse lighting. I will borrow that book from the library, again.

[rpcrowe]

[davidedric]

Here's another!

[Brownbear]

From this morning...



On the above I exposed a bit too much to the right so I decreased the contrast in LR...



Mike, I'm pretty sure I have it right this time around? If not, let me know - I can take it.