How to photograph objects with strong backlight

[Rooster4u]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

 

[justgo99]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

The simple answer would be to use a flash. And a powerful one that can reach the subject even at long distances. Something like the Canon ex-430ii would work well to fill the shadows with flash light.

Other than that the only other option would be to enhance the shadows in post processing (shoot RAW) but you don't know how that will turn out until after the shoot. Also pushing up the exposure introduces a lot of noise, which is undesirable, especially on people. Hope that helped

 

[Mark S Abeln]

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

You need to find out how to use your camera’s exposure compensation function, or you can try spot metering. Take a look at your camera manual to see how these work.

Exposure compensation will darken or lighten the image for you but it is kind of a blunt instrument. Spot metering will restrict the exposure meter of the camera to a small area, which might exclude a bright background; it is more accurate but might be more difficult to use well.

A better option might be supplemental lighting or a reflector.

--
http://therefractedlight.blogspot.com

 

[JoePhoto]

Seriously there could be several options.

Fill-Flash has been suggested but it would take a strong flash and a camera with native flash-sync of 1/1000, which few DSLR's have, (but the Panasonic FZ-1000 can even sync to 1/4000).

A "graduated" neutral-density (GND) would also work perfect because you probably have a straight-horizon.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) could also work if you camera does it, (or you could do an auto-bracket @ +/- 3 stops and do it later in software).

Note that the FZ-1000 has an "auto" (hand-held) that can auto-stich if only (hand-held) movement but I don't know if it would work with "moving" people, (or black people) ....
--
Thanks for reading .... JoePhoto

( Do You Ever STOP to THINK --- and FORGET to START Again ??? )

 

[R Neihi]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

I'm sorry I am not a Conon user, however giving you exact settings may not help anyway. Here are a few ways you can equalize the exposure with a strong back lit scene.

1. As said above, use a fill flash. Depending on subject distance, the flash intensity (duration) may need to be adjusted. Expose for background by adjusting Tv (under flash X/speed) and ISO, then adjust your subject by flash, and Av.

2. Depending on the quality of light you have, you might have enough headroom to shoot RAW and lift the shadows. Remember, if you do this, shoot as low ISO as possible. Not only will it help with noise, but you will get better dynamic range too. Most post processing programs like LR have the ability to lift just the shadows, just remember not to go crazy in post. These types of photos are naturally low key.

3. If the scene will alow it, take multiple shots. HDR can look good if done right. I give this a last option, one because of limitations of subject movement, but also HDR can look bad if not done right.

I hope this helped.

 

[yardcoyote]

First option is always to move so that subject isn't backlit. It's funny how often you don't think of that one. If that isn't possible, use exposure compenation to overexpose the background and bring the subject into correct exposure.

 

[R Neihi]

First option is always to move so that subject isn't backlit. It's funny how often you don't think of that one. If that isn't possible, use exposure compenation to overexpose the background and bring the subject into correct exposure.

You are right, for the most part people forget about their surroundings. It doesn't take much to change the way natural light hits your subject. However in this case, the OP was asking help with the sunset as apart or the scene. In this case, moving the himself or the subject is hard if he still wants the sunset. Also over exposing the background (sunset) would defeat the point of the nice sunset photo.

Again, most of the time your are right though. It is hard on the camera's meter if the subject is backlit. And it is hard on the subject if you're backlit, you want happy faces.

 

[patticake]

you could spot meter on the subject.

 

[JoePhoto]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

The simple answer would be to use a flash. And a powerful one that can reach the subject even at long distances. Something like the Canon ex-430ii would work well to fill the shadows with flash light.

Other than that the only other option would be to enhance the shadows in post processing (shoot RAW) but you don't know how that will turn out until after the shoot. Also pushing up the exposure introduces a lot of noise, which is undesirable, especially on people. Hope that helped

 

[Tom Axford]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

I too enjoy taking photos with strong backlight. I never use flash as I prefer the more natural look. However, strong backlight can be a real challenge.

First of all, the lens doesn't matter at all, it's the exposure settings in the camera that matter, but, most of all, the secret is in the processing.

What I do is shoot in raw (not essential, but it does give better results in difficult situations) and process the raw images in Lightroom (other processors will do a similar job).

For example, the following image is more-or-less straight from the camera (actually its a raw image with default processing in LR):



This is the result after lifting the shadows in LR:



At first sight it appears as if I had simply increased the exposure in the camera. However, increasing the exposure in the camera would not produce the same effect. It would cause the highlights to be blown, losing detail in both the clouds and in the bright sand.

 

[JoePhoto]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

I too enjoy taking photos with strong backlight. I never use flash as I prefer the more natural look. However, strong backlight can be a real challenge.

First of all, the lens doesn't matter at all, it's the exposure settings in the camera that matter, but, most of all, the secret is in the processing.

What I do is shoot in raw (not essential, but it does give better results in difficult situations) and process the raw images in Lightroom (other processors will do a similar job).

For example, the following image is more-or-less straight from the camera (actually its a raw image with default processing in LR):



This is the result after lifting the shadows in LR:



At first sight it appears as if I had simply increased the exposure in the camera. However, increasing the exposure in the camera would not produce the same effect. It would cause the highlights to be blown, losing detail in both the clouds and in the bright sand.

Excellent but with all due respect, that is nothing like the OP was describing.

(Dark-beach because late in the afternoon/evening, with back/lit people because shooting directly into the "setting" SUN.) That is a little more extreme than your example, (which is a "normal" situation we face every day with a "bright" sky).

--
Thanks for reading .... JoePhoto
( Do You Ever STOP to THINK --- and FORGET to START Again ??? )

 

[Tom Axford]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

If you are willing to dig into the technicalities of dynamic range and achieving the best exposure, there is a very good article by one of the contributors to this forum. The article is rather technical and primarily about the ETTR technique for determining best exposure, but it also includes several examples of what can be achieved in processing images with high dynamic range (i.e. large variations in brightness between the bright highlights and very dark shadows).

Scroll down the article to see the example images.

 

[D Cox]

Seriously there could be several options.

Fill-Flash has been suggested but it would take a strong flash and a camera with native flash-sync of 1/1000, which few DSLR's have, (but the Panasonic FZ-1000 can even sync to 1/4000).

A "graduated" neutral-density (GND) would also work perfect because you probably have a straight-horizon.

You would get people with their top halves dark and bottom halves light.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) could also work if you camera does it, (or you could do an auto-bracket @ +/- 3 stops and do it later in software).

Not for moving subjects.

 

[hotdog321]

Flash. Reflector. And shoot raw. Or be happy with a silhouette or rimlight.

























--
photojournalist

Photos by Craig Hartley

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[tedolf]

Overexpose by two F stops.

TEdolph

 

[yardcoyote]

Well, the question was expressed as how to photograph objects in strong backlight. If your goal is to photograph the objects, you have to sacrifice the background; if your goal is to photograph the background you have to sacrifice detail in the objects and be content with their outlines. Or, as many others have suggested, doctor the image in post.

I have always been rather glad that I have little or no interest in photographing atmospheric pheneomena-- if I see a double rainbow or something I am content with a simple snapshot.

 

[skyglider]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Because you want to shoot back-lit people just prior to sunset, your subjects will have very little light on them from your camera's point of view. Using spot metering on the subjects will result in a lot of noise because of the limited amount of light on your subjects, and will over expose your sunset.

To get the nicely exposed subjects with little noise that you want and have a nicely exposed sunset, you will have to find a way to illuminate your subjects. Your distance from your subjects will dictate the power of the flash you use. Built-in flash is weak and you'll need to be within 5 to 8 feet or less from your subject (general rule, not sure about your specific camera). A powerful external flash will allow you to be further away from your subject(s). You'll need to experiment for the flash you have.

If you want to be even further away from your subjects, a powerful spotlight with a large external battery could work. No recommendations but something you could research.

An off camera flash or spotlight at a different angle from the camera's point of view can result in very nice lighting effects.

Sky

 

[Mark B.]

Seriously there could be several options.

Fill-Flash has been suggested but it would take a strong flash and a camera with native flash-sync of 1/1000, which few DSLR's have, (but the Panasonic FZ-1000 can even sync to 1/4000).

Most modern DSLRs have hi-speed flash sync. Keep in mind, however, that such speeds will greatly diminish flash power.

A "graduated" neutral-density (GND) would also work perfect because you probably have a straight-horizon.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) could also work if you camera does it, (or you could do an auto-bracket @ +/- 3 stops and do it later in software).

That only works if people are stationary.

Note that the FZ-1000 has an "auto" (hand-held) that can auto-stich if only (hand-held) movement but I don't know if it would work with "moving" people, (or black people) ....

No, HDR pretty much depends on stationary subjects. It can compensate, to some extent, on camera movement - but not movement of elements within the frame relative to the rest of the image.

 

[Mark B.]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

Shooting dark-skinned subjects with strong backlighting is a very difficult situation because of the contrast between the bright background and the dark subjects. Consider shooting in the morning when the sun will be on them. You will likely still need some fill-flash, as the sky will be brighter than your subjects. Otherwise, you can spot meter off of their skin and let the background blow out, or add external flash to make up the difference.

 

[msc1]

I want you all experts to teach me how to photograph objects which has a strong back light with my canon EOS 600D camera mounted with 55-250mm kit lens?

Consider the example of taking photos of people playing on beach waves and there is strong back light. The beach will be the one where sunset happens and the i will be doing the shooting between 4pm to 5.45pm where the sunset time is at 6 pm. So now i hope that this has given much more idea of what kind of back light it will be there.

I have tried taking photos and what i got is all black people similar to shadow.

Try helping me with the settings for my canon camera to achieve perfect picture.

See your private messages.

msc