I have been exploring backlight lately. Any light coming from behind the subject can be considered backlight. Backlight that is two or more f/stops brighter than the exposure on the camera will record the subject as a silhouette.

I decided to do a shoot in the studio featuring this dreamy light. I set up a couple of Chimera 82″ by 42″ V-Flats and lit them with a Dynalite studio head shining into each one. The V-Flats are placed at a 45 angle to the white wall in the background. I hung a couple of sheer curtains on a background stand cross bar behind my model Vanessa. She’s standing about three feet in front of them. The light coming from the wall reads f/22 while the camera’s exposure is f/8.0 or three stops brighter rendering the background almost white.

When Vanessa moves closer to the sheers, the huge light source wraps her in soft luminance.

Backlight is versatile, easy to find or create and lovely to photograph.

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