My favorite time to shoot is when the sun is low in the sky. I can shoot with the sun behind me, so the light is shining directly in front of my subjects — called direct light. Or I can have the sun behind my subjects, so the light shines behind them — called back light.
There are also many other types of light, but today I am only talking about these two.
Which one to use is mostly about artistic preference. And sometimes, you don’t have a choice, like if you’re shooting an event with a designated time, so it’s important to know how to shoot in both kinds of light.
Okay, with that said, I have a preference.
Who knew? Apparently, my clients! haha. When I’m on a shoot, I don’t shoot with my head as much as my heart, so I usually look for moments and images that tell a story or create beautiful lines and shapes. I didn’t think I had a preference in light direction, until…
My recent Boat Shoot. I was boarding the second boat and heard my clients tell the captain to get into a position where my clients’ boat was backlit. The captain quickly turned to me like that must be wrong. I just nodded in agreement and probably wore a surprised look on my face. Gosh, my clients know me well! 🙂
Here are some recent side-by-side examples of back light versus direct light (displayed in that order) of the same subjects, during the same shoot, shot within minutes apart, so you can see the differences.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
*PHOTOGRAPHY TIP*
As you can see, there are significant differences between back light and direct light.
There are also merits in both kinds of light! Back light is more moody with softer colors, but also have softer details. Direct light has more vivid, saturated colors with greater details, but also has shadows.
If you could choose, which light do you prefer?
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