A Photo a Week Challenge: Backlit

There was a time when shooting anything “backlit” was a photographic “no-no.” I never agreed with that. For one thing, sometimes that’s the only light in town and we don’t all have either studio lighting or feel inclined to use a flash.

I don’t like flash. It make pictures look flat. Sometimes, one has no choice because hey, it’s night, and you want a picture. But if there’s any kind of reasonable indoor lighting and you have a fast enough lens, you can get a picture without flash. Probably not if you’re using a cell phone, but a real camera.

Backlighting is a different beast. Improperly used, you wind up seeing nothing but a silhouette. Maybe that’s what you want. Sometimes I want black, skeletal trees in front of a setting sun. On the other hand, sometimes I want to see a face.

Working backlit, you always get a lot of shadows. Shadows can enhance a portrait, and can make the leaves of a flower look translucent. This was what I did today. You can’t take pictures of any of my flowers without backlighting since other than the overhead chandelier in the middle of the room, there is no other natural light. It’s the light the plants grow by and it’s the light I use to take the pictures. It all comes from (ta da) the back.

Categories: cactus, Flowers, Light and Lights, lily, orchids, Photo A Week Challenge, Photography

Tags: A Photo A Week Challenge, backlighting, backlit, cactus, Easter lilies, Marilyn Armstrong, orchids, Photography