BACKLIGHTING
LIGHTING - Backlighting / halo
Backlighting or halo lighting is where you are shooting pretty much into the sun, but the source of the sun is eclipsed or hidden by your subject and/or their environment. So your subject is being lit from behind them, but because there is still light scattering in the air, your subject will be illuminated. But it may well be a silhouette if you underexpose it (10), so the idea is to capture how the light is reacting to your subject and the environment.
This is great for a rim-light effect around peoples hair, clothes, in fact anything in the air between you and the subject will be visible, such as insects, dust, pollen or smoke (2). But try not to show the source of the light unless it’s an integral part of the composition (1, 4, 11, 15, 15, 17). Frames 19 - 21 were all taken at roughly the same time and the same location. Frame 19, the sun is quite low but there is a lot of winter haze in the air, in this case the sun does not flare too much, so it is okay to show it. 20 is a little later and the mist has cleared, therefore it is a lot brighter, so an eclipse here is warranted. With frame 21, even though the sun is eclipsed by the church, the foreground subject is still well lit, without the need for flash or any other form of fill-lighting.
