Tiny Tips 4 – Study Highlights!

A photograph of a child with curly hair, back-lit by the sun.
by David

The earlier two tips were about attributes of light that may well be avoided. Here is one aspect of light that you would do well to utilise constructively.

While a light source from behind the camera (frontal lighting) helps you take sharp and colourful photographs, light from behind the subject (back-lighting) may help you take pictures with spectacular highlights, especially when shot against darker backgrounds.

So, when you are taking backlit photos of the subject, look out for the highlights. That’s what you will find standing out the most. It may be on the hair of the person, or on the dew drops on a flower or leaf! Make sure you take notice it, and capture it in your photograph!

If you want to make the highlights even more spectacular, open up a stop or two… and you’ll brighten the shadows on the front of the subject a little too!

More Tiny Tips here.

John Sudhakar

John Sudhakar

John Sudhakar is a professional photographer based in Chennai, India. His focus is on fashion, resorts, and product photography.

These days he is also involved in building customized motorcycles at The Bullet Factory.

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