As my quest to successful studio lighting creeps along, the brave and virtuous night, Sir Blakimus Perryus cameth to my humble dwelling with his fancy gear (well, umbrellas and light stands) and helped me along on my journey. This was something that was new for me, but also for him as well (I think?). This is just a basic rim light. Strobist Info: YN460 directly behind subject, full power Vivitar 285HV shot through umbrella, directly above camera, full power. Also, check out Blake's stuff. He is very good. Flickr: BlakePerry.'s Photostream VIEW IN LARGE ON BLACK (SERIOUSLY! DO IT!)
I think you are getting it!!!! It isn't super dynamic, but it has depth and even shadows. Some dust visible... but no big deal. I like it. For the future, dark hair against dark backdrop isn't optimal. Backlight did a good job differentiating the subject from the background though. I will let the pros chime in with some better advice.
Actually the "dust" that you see is a little bit of mist. If you look at his shoulders, you can see they are wet. we were messing around a bit with that to try and get that effect. He got the best shot of it though (you can see that on his Flickr.) I was just too lazy to clone it out last night.
