Don't Let Backlighting Spoil Your Photograph!
By: Serge

Although I would not consider myself a professional photographer by any means, I have been at this for a while, and have had some great teachers along the way.

In this first newsletter I would just like to share some tips regarding backlighting and how it can fool your light meter. For those super experienced photographers please bear with us, as more advanced topics will be discussed later.

Although shooting into the sun or a window with the sunlight shining in should be avoided, you are sometimes forced to take your picture under these conditions. If your not careful the light coming in from a window can fool your light meter. When taking a shot, say for example a portrait of a person with a window behind them, do a light meter reading with the meter pointed directly on the person. Get within a few feet to do the reading if you have to. After you have your correct meter reading and your aperture, and shutter speed settings are set, you can return to the disired location and take your picture.

What tends to happen sometimes if your not careful, is that your meter will pick up on the backlight, which is telling it that there is plenty of light, thus your camera shuts down the aperture, or increases the shutter speed to compensate. After you get your picture developed you will find that it is dark and underexposed due to a lack of light.

Hope this simple tip helps you improve your photography. If you are looking for more information to help with your photography skills check out the great instructional ebook Digital Photography Success.

Although Digital is mentioned in the title, it has many technical techniques and pointers that will improve your photography whether it be B&W, film, or digital.

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