(Talking about the real shooting experience of photography with the backlight of light, it is necessary to continue one more article.) The content shared in the next article is: the texture embodiment under the backlight shooting and the backlight shooting under the large and small light ratio)
Canon 100 Micro, Fast U 1/100 (f/6.3) Shooting, Golden Flower Worm (Contour Light)
Backlighting, also known as: contour light, silhouette light, dream effect (light), is widely used in photography, covering most scene shooting (and it is also my favorite light in photography). Below, we combine some legends to see the use of "contour light, silhouette light, dream effect (light)" in the scene. This is conducive to our elimination of the idea of "backlight is difficult to shoot".
70-200mm lens 200mm end, light u f/8 (1/3200) shooting, February (silhouette)
Contour light in backlight. Shooting under the backlight, it is easy to show the outline of the subject in a bright contour line, which is what we often call the contour light.
Mobile phone shooting, mantis dance
When it comes to "contour light", the first thing that probably comes to mind is the backlit photography of humanities (portraits). In fact, contour light is not only used in humanistic (portrait) photography. In many shooting scenes, the subject can achieve the highlight of the subject and enhance the visual effect of the picture through the contour light (line) formed under the backlight.
Old photographs of black and white film, folks in the countryside. The light shines on the hair and shoulders of the characters. The contour line formed by the arm
In flower photography, the bright edge lines formed by the edge surface features of the subject subject (such as: thin fluff, outline of branches, etc.) are photographed by backlighting.
Manual panoramic filming (group of 2 photos) is taken, and the bright contour lines formed by the young leaves and branches are illuminated
Photographed by a mobile phone, the contour line formed by the fine hairs on the surface of the thin vine subject to light
In macro ecological photography, the use of backlight shooting, so that seemingly boring ecological photography, add a lot of beauty, increase the enjoyment of fun.
Manual panoramic filming (a group of 3 photos) shooting, cockroaches. Under backlight illumination, the fingers and the edges of the cockroach form contour lines
High-brightness background: Backlit, finger edges and small gray butterfly wing edges form a contour line
Low-brightness background: Backlit, contour lines formed by grass rod edges, leafhopper and nymph edges
Under the backlight, the villi on the flying bees form a contour line
Backlit panoramas and long-range shots. Different from the flower and grass subject, in the backlight shooting such as macro photography, the contour line of the subject can be easily observed. When we shoot some backlit panoramas and long-range shots, we need to pay more attention to observation, choose the angle, and shoot out the contour lines that the subject can show as much as possible when satisfying the creative intention.
The phone shoots, under backlight, the edges of the lampshade and the pole, forming a bright contour line
High-brightness background: The outline line of the main tree pole is easy to observe when shooting, and the outline line of the thin branches is not easy to detect. Keep the thin branches at a vertical angle to the light as much as possible
Low-brightness background: When shooting, the contour line of the subject is easy to observe
Under the backlight, the shooting of the subject contour (light) is really not too difficult. The difficulty is that when we shoot, have we ever thought of using contour light to highlight the subject.
Silhouette in backlight. Shooting in the backlight, many times the subject and the background of the shooting environment will form a "large light ratio" situation. At this time, if the highlight part is taken as the metering value for shooting, the subject will often form a dark black silhouette.
Manual panoramic filming (group of 2 photos) shooting, impression of the old house (silhouette)
Silhouettes in backlight should be the most commonly photographed. In today's digital age, anyone can pick up a camera, a mobile phone, and take a silhouette of the sunrise and sunset.
Mobile phone shooting, quiet sand creek
From the perspective of photography creation, when shooting a silhouette film, we must pay attention to two aspects: 1, the outline of the foreground subject should be clear and orderly, visually have a certain sense of beauty, and be full of story.
Old photographs of black and white film, childhood. The picture comes with its own story, full of memories
17-40mm lens 17mm end, light you f/8 (1/1250) shooting, autumn
2, is to pay attention to the integrity and beauty of the silhouette lines of the subject, pay attention to the orderly layout between the scene objects in the shooting picture, and avoid random (excessive) overlap and disorganization that are not conducive to the perception of the picture.
Manual panoramic filming (a group of 5 photos) shooting, peach: dream
Cell phone shooting, morning
Dreamy effect in backlight. When the lens is backlit against a strong light source (such as the sun), the strong light enters the lens, and it is easy to produce a halo (or beam) picture effect because of the diffraction of the light.
Cell phone shooting, street lights
Let's first look at the following illustration. In this illustration, the number:
1 is the leaf under backlight; 2 is the "1" out-of-focus blur effect. It can be seen that under the backlit light, the light ratio between the leaves varies greatly, and the bright leaves form a distinct circular lens out-of-focus blurred bokeh spot (also known as: dot-shaped bokeh).
Different lighting conditions, the resulting lens out-of-focus blur bokeh spot effect is different
3 is the same tree as "1" and is in smooth light, and 4 is the out-of-focus blur effect of "3". It can be seen that under the light of the smooth light, the difference in the light ratio between the leaves is small, and the blurred blurred blur spot formed by the outside of the focus becomes less obvious.
[I personally feel] that the dream effect under the backlight should not be limited to the effect of light diffraction inside the lens. The dream effect under the backlight can also extend to the outside of the lens, extending to the backlight, and the dreamy effect brought by the blurred bokeh spot (also known as the dot bokeh) outside the lens focus.
Backlit, contour light + fantastic lens out-of-focus blur spot effect
In addition to the more obvious light sources, such as: lights, candlelight, waves, water droplets, etc., there are also some more hidden point-like light sources, such as: the light highlights of the tree leaves gap, the bright light of the small leaves of the bush, the light of the grass leaves and so on.
Backlit, contour light + fantastic lens out-of-focus blurred spotlight
Phone shooting, backlit, dreamy lens out of focus blurred flare
In addition to backlighting, side light, top light and other lighting can provide us with a light source that can form a blurred spot outside the lens focus. In the process of shooting, many times, the lens outside the focus of the blurred spot, because we do not understand, or do not realize, and did not use, is ignored. (The shooting method of the blurred blurred spot outside the focus, see the article shared in April 2021: Talk about photography, from the message of the film friend, talk about the fantastic extrafocal spot shooting that makes the photographer obsessed)
Red Dragon Dream. Sparkling waves form a blurred blur spot outside the lens
(The "Talk about Photography with Light" series of articles that have been shared: (1) Smooth light, high color saturation, bright and clear picture but poor three-dimensional sense.) (2) The metering points taken by the mobile phone under the light, starting from the message of the shadow friend. (3) Side light, texture, three-dimensional light, is the most widely used photographic light. (4) Side light, the application in the photographic scene, the key point of metering value. (5) Backlight, known as dream contour light, backlit scenery photography skills)
70-200mm lens 127mm end, fast excellent 1/4000 (f/4) backlit shooting, chrysanthemum in the splash. Sprinkled splashes form a lens outside the focal blossom source bokeh spot
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