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Place a light behind a person and to one side – or two lights either side – and the light glances off the edge of the subject in the most wonderful way. This is one of the simplest yet most powerful lighting skills you can learn. Get to grips with backlighting, and you can craft sensational portraits.
• Read more: The best Nikon portrait lenses
We’ve used a set of lights from a home studio kit here, each fitted with a softbox. But you don’t necessarily need to go out and buy the best softbox lighting kits. Any light source can be used for backlighting. A Speedlight and a cheap white umbrella will give amazing results, but even a household lamp can be used to great effect.
Then, of course, there’s the sun. When it’s low in the sky, it can create lovely warm backlighting if you position your subject with the setting sun behind them.
Backlighting is ideal for side-on poses, because it highlights the edge of the body. As such, it’s perfect for a pregnant subject like Kelli here, highlighting her beautiful bump and glancing off the edge of her face in profile. It’s also ideal when you want your subject to stand out from their surroundings, or to give them a heroic, cinematic feel. (Backlighting is used all the time in movies and TV.)
Over the next few pages, we’ll look at how to shoot and edit quality portraits like this. From exposure settings to light placement, you’ll learn the best way to backlight your subjects for beautiful low-key photos.
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