Backlighting For Wedding And Family Photography: A Lighting Tutorial

The Sun is a wonderful thing. For a photographer it can be a creative tool, but it can also ruin your photos.

After you get the hang of your camera controls and basics of composition, learning to use the sun to your advantage is the single most important thing you need to learn.



And backlighting is a lighting technique which harnesses the power of the Sun to help you create images with a summery, bright, lively feel to them.

You'll notice this kind of lighting technique often in advertising of major surf wear brands, some beer ads and lifestyle editorial magazine shoots. Basically anywhere that it's important to communicate a relaxed, sun-drenched, happy mood.

It's no wonder, then, that this technique is also very useful for wedding and family photography. And here's how to do it.

There are two ways of doing backlighting - with an assistant and without. Here’s a setup you’ll need if you have an assistant:

The Sun: Rim Light.

It at 2 o’clock to provide a rim light. You can position yourself and your subjects so that the Sun is anywhere between 10am and 2pm; it’s very much a creative choice.

Be mindful that when working into the Sun, it’s likely that your lens will flare up. Even though strictly speaking it’s a fault, I don’t think it’s necessarily a thing to be avoided at all cost.

I personally like a bit of flare in my backlit shots for that extra dreamy effect. But be aware that flare does wash away colour and contrast and it’s something you might not want.

A Side Note About The Sun: Wrapping.

Photographers like to use the word “wrapping” when describing lights and it particularly applies to rim lights.

This light hits your subjects on their backs and wraps a little around their bodies, so that you see just a hint of it from the front.

It appears that your subjects are glowing around the edge, their hair often has that “on fire” look and they’re cleanly separated from the background.

When using the Sun as the rim light, it’s quality will be determined by the time of the day. If you’re shooting closer to noon, the rim will be quite strong, narrow and edgy. If you’re shooting early at sunrise or sunset, it will wrap more and have a softer quality.


Reflector: Fill Light.

Your assistant will hold a reflector to bounce some of the sun back on to the subject.

This helps to open up the shadows on their faces and create a more pleasant light.

The main thing here is to not overdo it; it should be just a touch of fill, not a strong key light bouncing all of the Sun back into the subject and making them squint.

Take a look at the photo above to see the difference a reflector fill makes: the woman received the fill and the man didn’t; in our case the reflector wasn’t big enough to cover the entire group so we focused on the woman.

Don’t Have An Assistant?
No problem.  Just photograph using the Sun as a rim light only. And then use post-processing software to open up the shadows on your subjects.

 Just use your post-processing software to brush in a Midtone curve adjustment like this one on their faces.

Or feel free to play around with your own combination of Levels, Curve and Highlights and Shadows sliders until you get the look which you like.
Remember that there are no hard and fast rules; just keep your Sun behind the subjects and feel free to experiment with:

position of the reflector, if you have one: camera left, right, low and high
position of the camera: go high, get very low and go side to side
body positions of your subjects: standing, sitting, looking straight at the camera or facing all kinds of angles
The main thing is to have fun, make some mistakes and learn from them.

BIO: Steven McConnell is a professional photographer based in Sydney, Australia. He currently specialises in family photography and is passionate about creating photographs which tell real stories and businesses which deliver real value.