Article
Backlighting
by Esther Beaton
Backlighting is one of my favorite lighting techniques. No, probably the favorite. Newbie nature and wildlife photographers don’t have a great sense of different lighting styles; they just sort of shoot in the full sun. Fortunately, my experience with formal portraiture and studio shooting has given me a lot of knowledge which I can adapt to nature photography. In this newsletter, I’ll share the basics of backlighting with you and which will have you producing fancy results in to time.
Backlighting is a lighting style often used in portraiture, but it can be applied to any life form, including wildlife and plants. It is particularly effective in landscapes. Think of those nostalgic images of Tuscany grapevines or wheat fields across rolling slopes - most of those are backlit scenes, taken late in the day when the sun is low. I depend on it in a lot of my Scenics.
Adds Depth and Dimension
So just what is backlighting? What makes backlighting so effective and why do I love it so much? Backlighting is light that is hitting the back of the subject. There are two things it does to a photo, any photo, whether of buildings, people or a lamp post. First, backlighting adds 3-dimensionality. Remember, a photo is usually a print - in other words, 2-dimensional. Photographers have forever been looking for ways to add the third dimension- that sense of depth - to the print. The best way to do this is to separate the subject from the background. And a really great way to do that is to add a rim light around the edge of the subject. This is where backlighting comes in: it outlines the back edge of a subject and makes it pop out from the background, or as an artist would say, puts it in relief.
Intensifies Colours
Another wonderful effect of backlighting is the way it intensifies colours. You may have been taught that the way to bring out the best and most intense colours of a subject is frontlighting. Well, in a sense that’s true: frontlighting is good for solid subjects. But with translucent subjects, those that are almost see-through, like plants, leaves and flowers, backlighting really comes into its own. However, I was surprised once to find out how an object that I thought was solid was in fact relatively translucent. When I was shooting a story on funnelwebs (those big, hulking hairy brutish-looking spiders) I set up my normal studio formula, which included a backlight for the rim effect. Lo and behold, the results were amazing. The spider was lit up from within, seeming to emanate a reddish glow. So, not only does backlighting add the rim effect around the edges - it can also transmit light right through the subject. Try it yourself. Find an autumn leaf and notice that in frontlighting it is dull orange. Put the light behind it and notice how it glows red, almost fluorescent, and that all the venation and patterns become prominent.
Reduces Contrast
Another effect of backlighting - and this tends to happen more in scenics like distant landscapes and wide views - is that it evens out differences in lighting. When the sun is low in the sky, the shadows cast will not be too dark. There won’t be a dramatic difference in tones between the sunlit areas and shadows. Let’s say you're in a forest and you're looking at the shadow side of trees. Very often in such a scene the sunlight hitting the ground will be reflected back up onto the trunks of the trees, lightening up those shadows, thus evening out the difference between light and dark tones.
Increases Contrast
Another way that the tones are improved with backlighting is when a rim light is created. When the sun (or other light source) hits the back of a subject, it creates a pencil line of light around it. If it’s a mammal, the fur seems to light up. This outline is so intense that it will be overexposed or “burnt out”. But that won’t matter because it's not necessary to see detail in those narrow bands of light. The effect is one of creating contrast in an otherwise flat picture.
How to Employ Backlighting
To carry out backlighting is very straightforward. You don’t have to learn any complicated rules here, all you have to do is position yourself towards the sun. You face the sun, putting your subject between you and the sun. It might take a while to “get your eye in” as they say, because most of us are more comfortable looking at objects in “normal” frontlighting, and until you get used to it, backlit scenes look too dark to the untrained eye.
Add Fill Light
The only serious concern with backlighting is that you may require some fill light. Because you’re viewing the shadow side of your subject, it may appear dark and dull, particularly when it’s not translucent. You might have to fill those shadows in with a bit of light from a flash unit or reflector. This is called “filling in” or “adding a fill light”. You don’t want to over fill the shadows and make them look fully lit. That would diminish the lovely romantic effect that backlighting gives. The easy way to achieve good balance is to use a white reflector. It usually bounces back about half the quantity of direct sunlight and that’s a perfect balance of fill.
The other acceptable method is to use a flash unit - and this is where some real artistry is required. Thankfully, modern dedicated TTL flash units make it easier than ever. All you have to do is reduce the normal output by dialing down the the exposure. In the last newsletter, where I talked about using flash for birds, I recommended using minus 2/3 stop as a starting point. Most units want you to make changes in 1/3 stop increments but if you can set minus 1/2 stop, that is fine too. You’ll have to vary it depending on the distance your flash unit is from the subject or by how dark the subject is. (Of course you won’t be using flash on a big landscape scene; the light bouncing around and into the shadows will provide adequate fill.) Also, you don’t need fill-in flash on a translucent subject as that would kill the colors.
Lens Flare
One last thing to remember with backlighting is to prevent direct sunlight from landing on the front element of your lens. Your lens hood might not long enough if the sun is very low in the sky (see the Quick Tip above). The cleaner the front element of your lens and the more recessed it is, the less any flare will trouble you.
Don’t be afraid to try backlighting even when there is an overcast sky. Sometimes enough sunlight penetrates through a light layer of cloud to give you a glorious effect.
I encourage you to get our there and start practicing some backlighting. I hope, like me, you'll become a passionate convert.
Want to know more? At least six backlighting lessons are available in The Nature Photography Cookbook, an e-book full of practical techniques in an easy-to-apply, recipe style format.
Please note, this article is Copyright Esther Beaton. You may not copy it or use it without my written permission. Same for the pictures.
Esther Beaton is an award-winning, full time professional photographer and the author of The Nature Photography Cookbook. To learn about upcoming workshops and to get cutting edge tips on how to shoot nature like a pro, sign up for her free Photo Tips newsletter at www.estherbeaton.com. You can also forward this newsletter to a friend using the link at the bottom.
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Robyn