How should I expose backlit subjects at a distance when I can’t use flash or a reflector?
Asked 10/26/2013
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I was photographing my kids outdoors with a telephoto focal length (around 200mm full-frame equivalent) to keep some distance and isolate them from the background. They were often strongly backlit, but they were too far away for fill flash and I had no one available to hold a reflector. Recovering shadows from the RAW files helped somewhat, but it took a lot of work and the results were only moderate.
In this kind of situation, what’s the best approach? Should I expose for the subject and let the background blow out? Are manual exposure, spot metering, AE lock, exposure compensation, or HDR useful here when the subjects are moving?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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Blow the background, and pull down highlights in LR afterwards. Normally you'd want to add a reflector to reflect the back light back on the subject, or use a fill a flash. Without those, you should just blow the background and save it later, if possible, but its probably not important if you can, compared to exposing the subjects decently.
Here's an example I just noticed where I shot an evening shot against the light. It is by no means not a good photo, I just needed to shoot how the baby was sitting in the wrap. But the principle of sacrificing the background to ensure good exposure of the subject is there. And shooting raw, it can often be recovered just fine in post, where you can see the metal poles on the light source, and the wall texture and door frames.
Originally by user11455. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11455
12y ago
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Yes—if you can’t add light, prioritize the subject. In strong backlight at a distance, the usual solutions are fill flash or a reflector; without them, you’re mostly choosing what to sacrifice.
Best practice is usually to expose for the subject, even if that means the background blows out. Shooting RAW gives you the best chance to pull back some highlight detail later, but a well-exposed face is usually more important than preserving the background.
To do that consistently, use manual exposure, spot metering, or AE lock on something in similar backlight, then keep that exposure as the kids move. If you stay in an auto mode, dial in positive exposure compensation to brighten the subject.
HDR can help only if the scene and subject stay still enough for multiple exposures, so it’s usually not ideal for running children.
So no, you’re not out of luck—but without fill light, it is a compromise. The practical answer is to meter for the backlit subject, accept some blown background if necessary, and refine highlights afterward from the RAW file.
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