Backlighting

The most dynamic and visually arresting type of light a photographer can capture is backlighting. It comes in many forms, though, and often a practiced eye is needed to recognize it, to expose for it, and to use it for maximum impact.

Backlighting occurs when the background is lighter than the subject. In nature, this is commonly captured when the sun is included in the background. If the subject is opaque, it becomes a silhouette. If it is translucent, like the leaves of the trees on page 9 or the backlit leaf on the same page, transillumination is the result. Colors are intense and they seem to glow from within.

With the sun included in the composition, exposure can be a challenge. The brilliant light adversely affects the meter reading into underexposing the image. Meters are programmed to accurately interpret middle gray, i.e., middle toned, scenes or subjects. The meter reacts to a

direct sun by ‘assuming’ the scene is so bright it needs less light to become middle gray, hence the underexposure.

In the shot of the cheetah on page 8, notice the sun is partially obscured by the horizon. The diminished sunlight affects the meter with less intensity and, therefore, the meter reading would be more accurate than when the sun’s entire disc was visible.

In addition, the sun was composed in the lower left portion of the image. Since meters take most of their information from the center of the frame, an off-center placement of the sun means it has less influence on the reading; therefore, I took this picture without concern of a poor metering reading. In the landscape shot above, the sun is partially blocked by a tree trunk, but it was composed dead center in the frame. In this instance, the meter would have dictated underexposure. Knowing this, you have to check the LCD image and, using exposure compensation, add the

necessary adjustment to make the photograph perfect. A +1 f/stop change was used in this situation.

With the backlit green leaf on the previous page, there is no hotspot from the sun because it was illuminating the plant material from behind and at an angle. No compensation would be needed here.

In the shot of the glacial ice, above, notice the sun is vertically off-center, partially obscured and very small in the frame. I used a 14mm wide angle lens for this picture. That’s why the sun is so small. Consequently, it has little impact on exposure.

Sometimes backlighting can be so subtle it’s easy to miss. I photographed a juvenile alligator in a Louisiana swamp in the early morning, and the sun’s light could be seen through the skin hanging down from the lower jaw. In addition, you can see a bit of rim light on the top of the head. Usually, backlighting is most dynamic in the early morning and late afternoon when the sun is low to the horizon.

I photographed the model on the next page at sunset in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. I used her form to block the sun,

and this created a glow in the sky around her. I shot this with film years ago, and I didn’t have the immediate feedback of the LCD screen. I read the light with a hand held spot meter (the Sekonic L-508) by finding a middle toned area of the image. That turned out to be the medium-dark blue sky at the top of the frame. Today, it would be simple to take a test shot, look at the LCD and tweak the exposure accordingly.

You can create backlighting with artificial light, too. Off-camera flash, just like the sun, can make striking silhouettes -- like the frog on a leaf at right taken during one of my frog and reptile workshops, and the translucent glass frog, below, positioned on a piece of white paper supported by an 8 x 10 inch sheet of glass.

The moon jelly above was taken at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. This ephem-

eral creature was in a floor-to-ceiling aquarium about 7 feet in diameter. My wife, holding a portable flash, stood on the opposite side from where I was standing. As the moon jelly moved slowly, I moved with it to keep the flash directly behind it.

To trigger an off-camera flash wirelessly, you need an electronic triggering device (like the Godox Pro) attached to the camera’s hotshoe as well as a receiver on the flash itself. You can also use a camera mount flash to trigger the off-camera strobes, but if you don’t want the subject to be front lit, turn the power down of the on-camera flash or aim it at the ceiling.

For the picture at right, I placed the shell on a piece of cardboard with a hole cut in it. The light from the flash came through the hole and backlit the shell. §

BEST of SOUTHERN NATURE

April 1 - 6, 2023