Backlit portrait tips

[Iren]

i am going to to take few photos of my friend tomorrow and really wanted to try backlit portrait (fingers crossed for a sunny day)

After looking few tutorials online and reading relevant material looks like i have 2 options, but please correct me if i am wrong:
- use reflector to bounce back light to her face (i have only 30mm, so might be too small or just enough for headshot)
- put higher exposure (how high?)

Any tips welcome

 

[Phil V]

It takes an element of luck along with the planning, there's nothing you can do if it's overcast.

Without a reflector you risk completely blowing out the background, but sitting in long golden grass you get a natural reflector, you can also improvise with lots of readily available items*. (remember, the point of the reflector isn't to get the exposure 'right' for the subject, but to reduce the difference in light between the foreground and background),

However that goes, my metering method is to point the camera down and meter from the shadow area, whether you lock that exposure, set it manually, or recreate it with exp comp is up to you.

* this regularly comes up in the lighting forum, pro studios are full of bits of card, lengths of wire, blu tac and all kinds of 'rubbish' that an amateur would throw away whilst looking to buy a perfectly designed item of 'pro kit' . A pillowcase and a stick is better than nowt.

 

[Iren]

Thanks a lot Phil!
As usual very detailed and useful advice!

The weather is looking goodso far, but we'll see closer to the afternoon

Will take pillowcase with me

It takes an element of luck along with the planning, there's nothing you can do if it's overcast.

Without a reflector you risk completely blowing out the background, but sitting in long golden grass you get a natural reflector, you can also improvise with lots of readily available items*. (remember, the point of the reflector isn't to get the exposure 'right' for the subject, but to reduce the difference in light between the foreground and background),

However that goes, my metering method is to point the camera down and meter from the shadow area, whether you lock that exposure, set it manually, or recreate it with exp comp is up to you.

* this regularly comes up in the lighting forum, pro studios are full of bits of card, lengths of wire, blu tac and all kinds of 'rubbish' that an amateur would throw away whilst looking to buy a perfectly designed item of 'pro kit' . A pillowcase and a stick is better than nowt.

 

[juggler]

Watch out for flare - if light enters the lens directly then it can either (a) ruin a shot or (b) create loads of atmosphere - depending on your point of view. You may find you get better results by having the light slightly to one side as well as behind.

 

[Iren]

It might be a silly question, but i still will ask

I just tried at home to make sure i know what i am doing later on..and exposure level indicator does not move anywhere untill i set it up manually. I am not sure if it matters, but i tried evaluative and partial metering and its still the same

It takes an element of luck along with the planning, there's nothing you can do if it's overcast.

Without a reflector you risk completely blowing out the background, but sitting in long golden grass you get a natural reflector, you can also improvise with lots of readily available items*. (remember, the point of the reflector isn't to get the exposure 'right' for the subject, but to reduce the difference in light between the foreground and background),

However that goes, my metering method is to point the camera down and meter from the shadow area, whether you lock that exposure, set it manually, or recreate it with exp comp is up to you.

* this regularly comes up in the lighting forum, pro studios are full of bits of card, lengths of wire, blu tac and all kinds of 'rubbish' that an amateur would throw away whilst looking to buy a perfectly designed item of 'pro kit' . A pillowcase and a stick is better than nowt.

 

[Phil V]

It might be a silly question, but i still will ask

I just tried at home to make sure i know what i am doing later on..and exposure level indicator does not move anywhere untill i set it up manually. I am not sure if it matters, but i tried evaluative and partial metering and its still the same

If I'm understanding you correctly, the needle will remain in the middle in semi auto modes, but depending on what you're metering, the aperture or shutter speed will change.

 

[Iren]

The needle will stay in the middle in av mode as well, but shutter speed change and i can set the aperture..ive seeb quite a few videos where people show on the subject how to, but non with the actual camera and what to press where and now am cofused even more, but will try anyway

If I'm understanding you correctly, the needle will remain in the middle in semi auto modes, but depending on what you're metering, the aperture or shutter speed will change.

 

[big soft moose]

if you are in semi auto (ie AV or TV) the exposure will be central because the camera will alter the shutter speed or apperture to maintain a 'correct' exposure - your issue will be whether the central exposure is actually correct and that will depend where the camera is metering from - you may have to use +/- EV to get the exposure to be actually 'right' for the shot you are taking

 

[Phil V]

if you are in semi auto (ie AV or TV) the exposure will be central because the camera will alter the shutter speed or apperture to maintain a 'correct' exposure - your issue will be whether the central exposure is actually correct and that will depend where the camera is metering from - you may have to use +/- EV to get the exposure to be actually 'right' for the shot you are taking

This^
My simple preference is to use AE lock.
So I'd meter from low on the subject , lock that exposure, focus recompose and shoot.
It sounds a faff but it's all done in a nano second

 

[Iren]

This^
My simple preference is to use AE lock.
So I'd meter from low on the subject , lock that exposure, focus recompose and shoot.
It sounds a faff but it's all done in a nano second

I tried this and for some reason it came out either very over or underexposed.
Sun was too high and bright, so i was strugling at it was.
Will need to pracrise more and start with sunrise or sunset first

 

[Iren]

if you are in semi auto (ie AV or TV) the exposure will be central because the camera will alter the shutter speed or apperture to maintain a 'correct' exposure - your issue will be whether the central exposure is actually correct and that will depend where the camera is metering from - you may have to use +/- EV to get the exposure to be actually 'right' for the shot you are taking

Thanks! Ive tried few things, but most photos came overexposed..oh well..

 

[Phil V]

I tried this and for some reason it came out either very over or underexposed.
Sun was too high and bright, so i was strugling at it was.
Will need to pracrise more and start with sunrise or sunset first

For backlit by the sun, you need the sun low in the sky.

Sorry, I thought you'd have got that from my use of the word 'planning'.

Id assumed it would be obvious that a subject less than 6 feet off the ground and a camera at a similar height would need the sun near the horizon to produce backlight, there are exceptions, with clever use of trees etc, but that takes even more planning. I generally arrange my engagement shoots to start less than 2hrs before sunset. Over the course of the session then I can get a range of effects.

Back to the metering and exp lock. This is where practicing on unimportant subjects pays dividends. Spend an hour a day learning your cameras functions, both metering and focussing (not on the Internet, but camera in hand, pointing it at things). Then when you're faced with a real live moving subject, you can concentrate on the picture rather than your camera. I can't emphasise enough, I rarely consider camera functionality when the subject is around, and all other experienced photographers would be the same.

Before a shoot, I've picked a location and a time of day, I know what lenses I'll need, and I know what the important 'settings' are likely to be. So once the subject appears, it's all about making them comfortable, getting reactions, posing and light. My camera just happens to be there to record it.

 

[Iren]

Sunset it too late now, our shoot was at 4pm and as ive seen some tutorials who managed to do that with the high sun i assumed i could too...wrong!
When you start shooting 2h before sunset, how long does it last, when the sun becomes too low for the nice shots?

Lesson learned, i was too excited/nerveous and took me some time to fiddle with the camera and trying to understand what to do with sun/shade etc plus i used one of the SCNmodes for backlight (the one that takes 3 photos and combines them in one) and that was big mistake.
Ive posted some photos in the relevant section, would be good if you can have a look. I actually like 2 of the about 80 that i took

For backlit by the sun, you need the sun low in the sky.

Sorry, I thought you'd have got that from my use of the word 'planning'.

Id assumed it would be obvious that a subject less than 6 feet off the ground and a camera at a similar height would need the sun near the horizon to produce backlight, there are exceptions, with clever use of trees etc, but that takes even more planning. I generally arrange my engagement shoots to start less than 2hrs before sunset. Over the course of the session then I can get a range of effects.

Back to the metering and exp lock. This is where practicing on unimportant subjects pays dividends. Spend an hour a day learning your cameras functions, both metering and focussing (not on the Internet, but camera in hand, pointing it at things). Then when you're faced with a real live moving subject, you can concentrate on the picture rather than your camera. I can't emphasise enough, I rarely consider camera functionality when the subject is around, and all other experienced photographers would be the same.

Before a shoot, I've picked a location and a time of day, I know what lenses I'll need, and I know what the important 'settings' are likely to be. So once the subject appears, it's all about making them comfortable, getting reactions, posing and light. My camera just happens to be there to record it.

 

[Phil V]

Sunset it too late now, our shoot was at 4pm and as ive seen some tutorials who managed to do that with the high sun i assumed i could too...wrong!
When you start shooting 2h before sunset, how long does it last, when the sun becomes too low for the nice shots?

The point of that 2hrs is that I get different light conditions, on a good day that's 2hrs of 'good' lighting. TBH it's usually no longer than an hour and a half, and yes it's late, but that's when the light is right. Would you rather shoot at a convenient time for meh pictures or at a less convenient time for great pictures? This is what photography is all about. Landscape sections are often full of puzzled people who get up at 8, have breakfast, then go for a drive in the country, they go to the best spots and are disappointed with their images.

The 'Landscape photographer' watches the weather forecast, and when the weather looks good, he sets the alarm for 3 hrs before sunrise, then he drives out to the spot and sits and waits for the perfect light. That's photography, the only time we're in complete control is in the studio, but you don't want to shoot in studio settings, so I'm afraid you have to work with nature if you're planning to shoot there.

 

[big soft moose]

Thanks! Ive tried few things, but most photos came overexposed..oh well..

it's virtually inevitable that the sky will be overexposed if you are exposing for the models face with the sun high in the sky (unlesss you are using a lot of fill light with a reflector or flash) - if you expose for the sky the model will be silohuetted - which can workin some cases but often doesnt look that good

 

[kris3291]

Keep them facing north(ish). Over expose slightly. Try and keep their face free from too much distracting hard light cutting in from either side. Shoot as wide open as you can, making sure you grab focus on the nearest eye. Avoid the temptation to push massive amounts of light back in with the reflector, backlit portraits are lovely when they are softly lit on the subject. Don't worry massively about losing the highlights behind them too much (a bush or trees that have lots of specular highlights coming in will create beautiful booked and help to create some balance in exposure. Have fun and share the results

 

[kris3291]

Bokeh**

 

[Iren]

Keep them facing north(ish). Over expose slightly. Try and keep their face free from too much distracting hard light cutting in from either side. Shoot as wide open as you can, making sure you grab focus on the nearest eye. Avoid the temptation to push massive amounts of light back in with the reflector, backlit portraits are lovely when they are softly lit on the subject. Don't worry massively about losing the highlights behind them too much (a bush or trees that have lots of specular highlights coming in will create beautiful booked and help to create some balance in exposure. Have fun and share the results

Thanks! Will try to remember all (or most of it) next time