Aesthetic creation and shading choices between backlit portraits, rim light (rim light) and lens flare (lens flare)

1. The angle between the physical geometric orientation of Rim Light and the light position

The most charming thing about a backlit portrait is the transparent outline of a shining golden light that completely separates the figure from the dark and cluttered background:

1. Sun incident angle (15° ~ 30° golden elevation angle):

• The scorching sun at noon will not produce excellent hair shine (dazzling white spots will form on the top of the head and thick skull shadows on the face).
• The best time for silky hair is 1 hour before sunset (golden hour), when the sun's altitude angle is extremely low (around 15 degrees).

2. Three-point and one-line geometry of light source, character and camera:

• The character must be between the light source and the camera.
• Full Backlight (True Backlight - 180° Confrontation): The light comes from directly behind the character, and the hair and shoulders are symmetrically gold-plated, with the strongest sense of peeling off the edges.
• Rim Backlight - 120° ~ 140° angle): The sun is located behind the left or right of the character. The hair light flows in one direction along one side, outlining the elegant jawline and side strands, and the light and shadow levels are richer and more vivid.

3. Principle of dark background light absorption:

• The extremely bright hair outline must be supported by a dark background (such as shady woods, dark rock walls, dark buildings at dusk). If the background is also a white overexposed sky, the hair light will be completely swallowed up and annihilated by the strong background light.

2. The love-hate relationship between Lens Flare and Ghosting

Strong non-imaging light is incident obliquely into the front lens of the lens and is reflected irregularly on the surface of the lens multiple times, causing two types of physical phenomena:

1. Diffuse stray light (Veiling Glare) - hazy feeling of fog:

• The light diffuses on the inner wall of the lens barrel, casting a layer of white gauze-like haze over the entire frame of the sensor. The overall contrast drops drastically, and dark areas become gray and light.
  -Aesthetic application: often used in Japanese fresh, dreamy, nostalgic or fairy-like aesthetic styles to convey warm and soft emotions.

2. Geometric reflection ghosts (Aperture Ghosts):

• Bead-shaped, hexagonal or circular bright colored spots (red, green, purple spots) are formed on the diagonal line of the screen.
• Modern top-level coatings (Nano AR/Nano Crystal/Fluorine Coating) are designed to eliminate ghosting; the single-layer coating of old lenses can easily emit a strong rainbow halo.

3. "Controllable Taming" Techniques for Glare: Edge Blocking and Semi-blocking

Blindly shooting all the way into the light will only result in a vast expanse of white waste. Professional photographers know how to "tame" light in front of the camera:

1. "Peek-a-Boo Technique":

• Move the camera or adjust the model's position so that the model's head, shoulders or nearby leaves just block the dazzling sun's core disc , allowing only a ray of golden edge halo to overflow from the gap in the hair or the edge of the leaves.
• Effect: It not only completely retains the dazzling golden edges and luminous outlines of hair, but also effectively eliminates the whitening and out-of-focus focus of the entire picture caused by direct light.

2. Hand Flagging Method:

• Remove the lens hood (sometimes to deliberately introduce some glare);
• The left hand is suspended diagonally above the lens to act as a temporary light shield. Slightly adjust the height of the palm until the dazzling white fog spots in the viewfinder have just receded, but the luminous outline of the character is still dazzling and the shutter is pressed.

4. Fill-in light for dark parts of the face: foam reflector vs translucent soft board practical operation

The biggest problem with backlit photography is that the person’s face is in the shadow of the backlight. If the sky is exposed directly to the face, it will be overexposed, and if the face is exposed to the sky, the face will be completely black:

1. Reflector soft return light:

• It is strictly prohibited to use gold and silver light reflectors to shine directly on the face at close range (the light is dazzling and will cause the model to blink and squint, making the light on the face extremely harsh and greasy).
• Correct approach: Use matte pure white reflective surface, place it at 45 degrees in front of the model and slightly lower than the chest, use extremely soft and large-area diffused light to gently brighten the facial shadow by 1~1.5 stops, and create a clear and moving light in the eyes.

2. Light-transmitting soft board (Diffuser) overhead matting:

• If the background sunlight is still too hot and dazzling, the assistant can hold up a translucent soft light cloth diagonally behind the model's head to filter the hard direct sunlight into a creamy, even contour soft light.

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