Natural Light, Backlight and Silhouettes

Mike Browne introduces shooting against the light, where a rim wraps the subject's hair and shoulders. Photographing Nat, he keeps her against dark trees, fits a lens hood against flare, and beats the camera's confusion with plus one stop of exposure compensation, auto exposure lock or manual 1/60s at f/5.6.

Gavin Hoey lights Christina from behind and in front with a single Canon 580EX II speedlight, bouncing light back into her face with a 5-in-1 reflector against a background. An assistant up a ladder sprinkles flour behind her, which the flash turns into a sparkling backdrop, before Camera Raw tweaks.

Lindsay Adler, challenging Matthew Jordan Smith and David Ziser to a shoot-out at PPE, picks a hotel hallway with windows on both sides needing no strobes. A 24-105mm at a long focal length compresses the pillars to hide signage, and an eBay parachute tucked into the gown adds movement.

Mark Wallace shoots natural light portraits in Pretoria with no reflectors or flash, wide open at f/1.4, finding a pocket of directional light inside shade, rejecting a reflective backdrop that casts harsh shadows under the eyes, then using open shade beside sunlit concrete for catchlights and a complementary green background.

Gavin Hoey shoots silhouettes with the sun overhead, placing Kerry in shade against a bright background and dialling minus two stops of exposure compensation in aperture priority at f/5.6, ISO 200. Dark clothing and graphic props sharpen the shape, then a smoke machine and Photoshop's stack script combine several frames.

Julia Trotti's behind-the-scenes footage from a natural light fashion shoot in Poznań, Poland, photographed on a 50mm lens. Set to music rather than commentary, the clip follows the model around the location as Julia works with daylight; a companion film by Dan and the finished images appear on her blog.

Julia Trotti spends an hour in fields with model Kristina Srzich, who suggested a loose, playful shoot of running and strolling rather than formal posing. She asks for repeated runs towards the camera, noting that the first few frames carry the best energy, and lets natural laughter and movement lead.

Michael Sasser, in Haiti, reduces natural light to two situations. In direct sun he places the sun behind the subject so they stop squinting, shadows soften and hair gains a rim light; in indirect light he points the subject's nose towards the brightest area, such as a window.

Julia Trotti explains why backlighting is her default for portraits: with the sun behind the subject, contrast drops, skin texture softens and images turn dreamy, even at midday. She shoots a Canon 5D Mark IV with f/1.2 and f/1.4 primes at ISO 100, using white walls or rocks as reflectors.

Bach Photography shoots golden hour portraits with a Sony A7R II and Sigma 85mm f/1.4, using the low sun as backlight for smooth skin, though any lens will do. Tips include moving around a location for variety, then a Camera Raw edit brushes clarity into the eyes and smooths skin.