Photography: Backlit Subjects

orginal post by dps blog
Back light has some what been another one of those typical "no no" things that you should not do when it comes to photography. One of the first thing that some one thought me was to always shoot with the sun hitting your back. This just made pictures better for some reason, but during the past few months i been checking out back light photography so to speak. And its really nice

Why backlight?

• backlight can add drama to an image
• backlit images can show the delicacy of a subject (think transparent or translucent things like flowers or insects)
• backlight can help create real mood in a shot
• backlit images can highlight details on the edges of subjects
• backlight can reveal textures that might previously have been hidden
• backlit images can show off the shape and form of a subject
• backlight can create shadows that add points of interest to an image

This does not mean that back light should be applied to all shots out there - but its another thing to have in mind while shooting.

Below are some really nice backlite photos:




Another thing worth mentioning is that metering can play a big difference here, so try spot metering if you want the foreground to be properly exposed or use a fill flash! Try a few different things, and feel free to share!