Looking for thoughts about back lighting

[redessa]

While I was shooting the other day, I decided to try some heavy back light. This was taken about a half hour before sunset. Ignoring for a moment that I clipped the tip of her shoe and something about that position makes her tricep look ginormous, Is there anything I could have done differently? The original photo was very orange so this is my edited version.

Is this just simply what happens when you shoot into the sun? Do people like this look? I think it's kind of cool but I'm still an experimenting newbie. Would a flash have made a difference? How could I have gotten her skin tone to look a little more natural? (and yes I shot in raw so I can still play with the original)



IMG_7634 by redessa, on Flickr

 

[KmH]

The photo desperately needed some front lighting. There is no detail in her face. in backighting this strong, a reflector usually won't cut it.

It looks like this young girl quickly sat down right in your shot of the grass.

Of course I'm assuming the shot is supposed to be about the girl, not the backlighting.

 

[Big Mike]

Is this just simply what happens when you shoot into the sun?

Sometimes, yes. You can often prevent/limit it by blocking the sun from hitting the lens directly (without blocking your scene, obviously).

Do people like this look?

Some do, some don't.

Would a flash have made a difference?

Sure, it would have made a difference, but it would also change the feel of the photo.

How could I have gotten her skin tone to look a little more natural?

It starts with proper exposure and then involved proper white balance. But keep in mind that if you had exposed for her face (without flash) the rest of the photo would be much brighter (because she's underexposed as it is).

I know a few photographers that shoot like this on a regular basis. You could even call it a style. I've had photographers in my class, specifically ask how to achieve results like this.

Is there anything I could have done differently?

You could go with more exposure on the model....or you could go with less. There really isn't a right or wrong...just what you (the artist) thinks. Of course, you can ask for other people's opinions...but in the end, it's up to you.

 

[redessa]

It looks like this young girl quickly sat down right in your shot of the grass.

That made me laugh.

But I am curious why you say that. What is it about the photo that gives you the feel that the intended subject was the grass? Is it just the amount of it or something about the angle?

Thanks to all of you for your insights. This was, as I'd said before, only an experiment. I was finished taking pics but then noticed the lighting and yes, asker her to just sit down while I tried something. She was nice enough to cooperate. It was never intended as a serious composition but I am a bit fascinated by the end product.

 

[Ron Evers]

One click of the backlight filter in Photoscape yields this:

 

[redessa]

One click of the backlight filter in Photoscape yields this:

Hmmm, I'd never actually heard of photoscape before now. I'm certain I could to the same thing in photoshop but it wouldn't be one click of a button!

Oh and Ron, I have to tell you, your avatar pic reminds me so much of my dad. I think it's mostly just the beard but every time I see one of your posts I think of him.

 

[KmH]

Photoscape is free raster graphics software. http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php

Inkscape is free vector graphics software. Inkscape. Draw Freely.

 

[Derrel]

When shooting toward strong light sources, it is **imperative** that the front element of the lens be immaculately clean. It is even more critical that the rear element of the lens be absolutely,positively, immaculately clean and free of grease, dust, and any form of slight smearing. If you have a UV, skylight, or other filter on the front of the lens, remove it. When the strong light source is imaged against a predominantly dark field, like foliage, tree lines, or any backdrop that constitutes what is called a "dark field", the tendency of the lens to show a maximum amount of either flare, ghost, or veiling glare, is exceptionally strong. So....make sure the lens is immaculately clean. Use a lens hood. Have a piece of dark cardboard or baseball cap or hat, on hand to shield the lens front from direct sun if you want to minimize ghosting (images of the lens diaphragm on the picture area), or flare (colored blobs of light,simply description) or veiling glare (an overall, foggy look that lightens the blacks and lowers image contrast). If possible, have an assistant hold the light blocking device so that is literally casts a shadow on the front of the lens!

If you use a flash, you need to add something like a 1/4 or 1/2 CTO ( a fairly mild color temperature adjusting filter, orange) over the flash. The natural light at that time of day is quite "warm", but the light from an electronic flash is 3,000 to 4,500 degrees Kelvin cooler (ie "whiter" you might say). Just blasting a flash at a backlighted subject shortly before sunset looks, well, not natural. The absolute, positively BEST places to shoot into backlight are where LARGE, lighter colored buildings reflect the rising or setting sun and create natural, lovely fill lighting. White, tan, beige, etc buildings create a HUGE source of reflector fill when the sunlight hits their facades. You live in Utah--surely you can scout around and find a nice location or two where the setting sun hits a large building. THis will allow you to shoot exposures at either "over" "right on" or slightly "under" exposure settings. ANd get beautiful results.

Second thing: make sure the camera's contrast level or Tone Curve setting is set to LOW; you do NOT want to shoot jazzed-up images in backlighted conditions; It's better to have a slightly lower-contrast image capture, and then to jazz it up in post, rather than have the highlights burn out because the camera was set to High Tone Curve (ie, high contrast). Same thing goes for the various "scene modes", like Vivid or Direct Print, etc...you do not want to use such settings, or you risk having images that are too high in contrast. It's much,much better to shoot, then post-process the images carefully, to get the shadowed side looking the way you want it to look.

Normally, the natural light is quite "warm", so set the camera white balance to 6,800 degrees or to Shade when photographing that close to sundown. AUTO WB will possibly be all over the place. Last thing: you can shoot this with a blown-out background, exposing for the shadowed side of the face, and allowing ther background to "blow out" and to be overexposed quite severly; the key in doing that is to make sure the background is fairly clean and uncluttered, and that the subject matter actually is conducive to such a look: females, children, horses, cattle, romantic scenes all lend themselves to blown-out, backlighted exposures and post-processing. When shooting in-camera JPEGs, it is critical that the white balance be set correctly--6,800 degrees or so when close to sunset, AND that the image saturation and tone curve settings not be excessively "jazzy". When shooting JPEGs, the exposures can be adjusted for the look you want, and this is a fantastic type of situation in which to use the AUTO-bracket feature, and to shoot a baseline exposure, and two others. If you want the bright look, make the two others "overs".