Most people take photos with the light source (sun usually) illuminating the subject because it's the obvious choice. During the "golden hour" the sun produces a nice even glow and warms skin tones producing nice results. I love to shoot back-lit shots - shots where there's a lot of light
behind the subject. Usually that light source is the sun but the light could come from anywhere - a street light, ambient light, another flash. Using back-lighting accomplishes a few things: it adds another element/dimension to the photo while producing a nice hair light (in portraits) as well.
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| I used two external flashes to illuminate these cholla cacti. |
Typically I use at least two flashes off camera, but this also can be done with an on camera flash, or an on camera flash and a reflector bouncing the sunlight back onto the subject. I always use a gel modifier to match the color of the light source. In the case of the sun, I use a warming modifier. If you're using an on camera flash, you can tape (or hold) a sheet of clear orange plastic (they sell these on eBay or at a local camera/art supply store) over your flash. If you're using an external flash, you can purchase a colored diffuser. They're inexpensive and work really well.
Here's how I do it:
1. First of all I always shoot in RAW, and you should too. You'll have much more control of the editing process than if you were only shooting JPEG's.
2. I shoot in Auto White Balance when I'm shooting golden hour portraits. I've found that using the camera's sunlight white balance setting doesn't always get the correct color - the color of the sun at noon is totally different than the color of the sun at sunset. Camera's should have a "sunset" white balance.
3. Meter for the background and adjust the flash for the subject. This can be adjusted a few different ways but flash exposure compensation would be a good place to start.
4. Adjust the white balance in post production:
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| Here's the original image, auto white balance. Decent but the color is off. |
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| Here the white balance was set to Tungsten, couter balancing the orange glow of the sun. Good but too much counter balance - I like little more warmth to the skin tones. |
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| Here's the next version. I've used a tungsten white balance setting but warmed it up a bit to match the color of the sun. I also whitened the teeth and eyes - you may want to do this so that the warm color doesn't make the teeth and eyes look yellow. I also cropped this. |
Here's a landscape version:
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| I used the same process here. Without a flash this cholla cactus would have been a silhouette. Using a colored modifier produces similar light as the sun was producing at this time of the day. |
Using back lighting is easy and produces some nice results. Whether you're using an on camera flash, a reflector, or multiple external flashes, experiment with this technique!
