Lisa McNiel Flower Mound Senior Picture Photographer serving Dallas, Fort Worth Texas: Five Steps to Backlit Pictures

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Five Steps to Backlit Pictures

Backlit photography is popular for a number of reasons. It can be difficult to execute at wide open apertures (that make the background appear blurry) so photographers like it for the skill level. It separates the subject from the background so you don't get "mergers" (like a tree growing out of a person's head). It has a warm "feel" and brings an emotional connection because it normally occurs around sunset.

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Here are five things to consider when trying to take backlit photos:

1. Focus: It is difficult for the camera to focus on something very backlit. Sometimes you have to focus and recompose or cover your lens with your hand to get the focus, then pull it away to take the picture, or move to a different angle to get that rim light around your subject.

2. Exposure: You typically want to overexpose or your subject will be too dark.

3. Placement: It is easier to get the shot and have the person be the main focus of the image when the source of light, the sun, is not shown. If you move to where you can see the effects of the light, but not the sun, it can be beautiful.

4. Time of Day: It is easiest to get backlit photos around sunrise or sunset when the sun is low in the sky. Otherwise you have to get down low and shoot up at your subject which can be an unflattering angle unless they have a chiseled Kennedy-esque chin and are young and thin.

5. Reflector: Use one if possible. This is one of the reasons I love to have moms on my senior shoots. They become my assistants and work the reflector for me. I prefer the golden side, but the silver and white sides are also nice. In absence of a Photography reflector or assistant, try to find natural reflectors, a sidewalk, or bright wall to bounce the light off of to light your subject.