Just because there’s harsh midday light doesn’t mean you need to put your camera down or get out an arsenal of strobes and reflectors to try to save the day. In fact, by simply learning how to work with backlight, you will have a tool that will allow you to continue working from sunup to sundown.
In this Tech Tip, photographer and director Corey Rich works with a trail runner in the Sierra Nevada Mountains to show why backlighting works midday. He creates compelling, beautiful images by exposing for the shadows, using a shallow depth of field, and creating a natural rim light that separates his subject from the background. Learn to make any light work to your advantage by shooting backlight.
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Thank you!
Great tips and images
He talked about back lighting but didn't show how to do it? I didn't understand.
it is a nice learning content
Hmmm…you get a silhouette if you meter for the background OR you get a completely overexposed background if you meter for the subject in this scenario. It’s an art to correctly overpower the sun. I usually underexpose the background by 1 or 2 stops and use off camera flash on the subject. This video is misleading.
that jacket tho
Just how cold was it on the day of this photo shoot? Corey is wearing a puffy down coat and his model is in shorts and a T-shirt. She must have been freezing cold.
lol is it cold at mid day i'm pretty sure he's hot in that jacket
still relevant. thank you for the effort and the sharing. when exposing for the shadow, should i be spot metering on the face? thumbs up.
sun, should be in-front of the subject of at back side of the subject ?
Do you really need a 26 second intro for a 4:35 minute video?
What´s the point of using such a high ISO value of 400 when the sun is so bright? A shutter speed of about 100/s would still be fast enough.
I love this show. Short effective and informative
Thank you! 😊
I like this photographer's thinking…Take a model up to the Sierras in cold enough weather that he needs to wear a blizzard parka, but shoots the model wearing t-shirt and shorts. lol.
I tried but the background was over expose. to get the proper one
Guude 🙂 mir gefällt das richtig gut was du da machst. Mach genau so weiter! I like 🙂 Daniel
i love the way how Gavin Hoey explains…..
why iso 400?
Thanks, I need that advice.
i don't think he shot all those images at mid day. it must be just before the sunset. midday you will have raconni eyes no matter if the sun is up or even slightly behind the subject unless you're using a fill(reflector or strobe). his before and after shots are not taken at the same time. if he expose for the shadow, the background must had been overexpose. in his example it's not. and he said no strobe. i think somebody is not telling the truth. unless those bright light that hit the yellow grass bounces to the subjects face i don't know.
It should have been said that these images were taken late in the afternoon when the sun is very low. It would be impossible to do the same in mid day. Time of day is as important as the technique.
Danger Will Robinson Danger!!! great tips tho
I'm shooting backlit sunset portraits with high speed sync flash as key light to compensate for bright background.. Been having trouble with autofocus with bright sun in shot/behind subject's face (their face is often in silhouette when focusing before flash fires)..do you have any advice for more consistent auto focusing in such conditions or is the only solution using manual focus? Thank you
Thank you sooooo much for this video
I think if I were to attempt this I'd use bracketing to keep the sky from being overexposed and blend the images in photoshop. It's still free of strobes and reflectors but makes shooting at the beach viable.
he totally moves like C-3PO
if i shoot a subject agaainst the sun, ( sun behind the subject) and i meter for the subjects face, entire background will be ove exposed :/ .. i thought you were using a flash in this photos.. how its possible to meter for a subject against sun and not blow out the background?
Maybe one day I'll be able to afford a 2400 lens
good review
love this! thank you
Did you use strobes to fill in the face or did it in pos production (shadows slide in Adobe Lightroom) ?
did you use flash?
I always find when I use this technique the foreground is over exposed and I need to bring out a reflector or strobes. How do you go about maintaining a blue sky and a correctly exposed foreground while shooting towards the sun?
Are you kidding me?! Great content… very informative!