Backlight - Week 1
This week Photo 52, a year long exploration of light that I am working on with several other talented photographers, will embark on a new overarching theme known as backlighting. Simply put backlighting is when a light source is behind the main subject. Whilst some might find it counterintuitive to shoot into the light, the effects can be quite magical.
By having the light behind your subject, the finer details of an object can be enhanced as well as the capture of some lovely silhouettes and sunbursts. Landscape photography works well with backlighting, especially with translucent flowers and foliage or rim lighting of animals and objects in the background. Even atmospheric elements such as haze, fog, steam or mist can be intensified and therefore alter the mood of an image.
We will be spending four weeks using backlighting as our inspiration and digging our heels in creatively with this fairly advanced technique. Below is my backlit debut.
Sugar Hill, Harlem
Next up in our blog circle is the amazingly talented Kennedy Tinsley. Please click HERE to continue along the chain and see the creative way in which Kennedy and the others used backlighting this week.