10 Tips to Capture the Best Light

1. **Understand the Lighting**: The key to capturing great backlit portraits is to understand how light behaves when it is behind your subject. This type of lighting can create a flattering, ethereal glow around your subject, but it can also pose challenges in terms of exposure and contrast.

2. **Be intentional**: Position your client strategically so that they are in a sun spot. Then, position yourself in a shaded area so that direct sunlight does not enter the lens. Pro tip: If there is no shade, angle yourself slightly to the side of the setting sun so that the sun light shines in an angle towards your camera rather than directly into the lens.

3. **Find the Right Angle**: Experiment with different angles to find the best position that makes your subject stand out against the backlight. Sometimes shooting slightly from the side can help create a beautiful rim light effect around your subject, enhancing their features.

4. **Adjust Your Exposure Settings**: When shooting backlit portraits, it's important to adjust your exposure settings to prevent your subject from being overexposed. You may need to underexpose your shot slightly to maintain detail in the highlights and avoid blowing out the background.

5. **Focus on Composition**: Pay attention to the composition of your shot when shooting backlit portraits. Consider incorporating elements such as lens flare, sunbursts, or backlighting effects to add interest and drama to your photos.

6. **Shoot During Golden Hour**: The soft, warm light during golden hour (the hour just after sunrise and just before sunset) can create a beautiful backlighting effect for your portraits. Take advantage of this time of day to capture stunning, ethereal images of your clients.

7. **Communicate with Your Subject**: Make sure to communicate with your client and give them clear directions on how to pose and where to look during the shoot. This will help ensure that you capture natural and flattering expressions in your backlit portraits.

8. **Use a Fast Lens**: A fast lens with a wide aperture can help you achieve a shallow depth of field and create a beautiful bokeh effect in your backlit portraits. This can help separate your subject from the background and draw attention to them in the frame.

9. **Experiment with Silhouettes**: Embrace the opportunity to create striking silhouettes when shooting backlit portraits. Position your subject in front of a bright light source and expose for the background to create a dramatic and moody silhouette effect.

10. **Edit Carefully**: In post-processing, pay attention to the exposure, contrast, and highlights of your backlit portraits. Make subtle adjustments to enhance the overall look and feel of the images while preserving the natural and ethereal quality of the backlighting.

By following these tips and techniques, you can capture stunning and captivating backlit portraits of your clients that highlight their beauty and create a magical atmosphere in your photographs.