I love those moments when head knowledge becomes working knowledge, and something clicks so much that you can almost hear it. Oh, learning is a wonderful process!

So, here it is…I love backlighting, and I’ve been practicing using it more over the past year or so. But one of the problems I was having was shooting in strong or somewhat strong sunlight–there was often a lot of hazy light filtering in between the camera and the subject…some people like that look. It can be nice when coupled with sun flare, but there are times when I want the dramatic backlit portrait to be crisp with clean colors. I was really just shooting in the dark (yes, play on words totally intended…i look for those cheesy opportunities whenever possible) until I read through Jasmine Star’s post on her workshop in January. She had a “behind the scenes” shot of her and the other photogs shooting the models with the “really high budget and classy technique” she taught everyone.

I read the blog post and kept that little nugget in my back pocket until I had a chance to use it. And here’s the difference it made:

So here’s the basic rundown: In the first shot, I used spot metering to get a reading from her face, then set my camera on manual to f/2.5, 1/250 sec, ISO 100 (50mm lens). I kept the settings the same for the second shot, but simply put my left hand up in the air to basically create a small spot of shade for my camera (check the link to Jasmine’s post for a visual–it’s about halfway down). I edited them only slightly (contrast, exposure, and vignette) but applied the same settings to both.

The picture is totally not perfect (there is a stray ray of light that may have crept in through my fingers), but I’m so excited to practice it some more. I hope you’ll be encouraged to experiment a little with backlighting–it’s a beautiful way to add a little spice to your portraits.

*UPDATE 10/18/11* Just thought I’d add a couple of other great options to make this trick work. Basically, you want to make sure your lens is in the shade. So you can position yourself in the shade if there is any to be found. Or, you can have an assistant hold something up that is large enough to create the shade needed (the black side of a 5-in-1 reflector works great). Or you can also use a lens hood (pros: leave it attached and you have shade for your lens as well as protection, can use it when you’re constantly moving while shooting, such as at an outdoor wedding; cons: different hoods for different lenses, may cost you extra if it doesn’t come with your lens).

There are lots of options, but the idea is the same: get your lens in the shade! Whether you step into the shade or create it with a lens hood, another object, or your own hand, it is a very simple concept that will help you get gorgeous contrast in back lit portraits.