In test shooting, I've become a big fan lately of what's variously known as back lighting or edge lighting, where oftentimes the most interesting light in the scene is coming from the back or side-back.
In lighting interior night scenes, for instance, I used to try to light them from the front and just lower the exposure in the camera. It just didn't work right; the picture not only looked grainy but lacking in detail and atmosphere.
Now, when I light a nighttime scene, I almost always light it from somewhere in back, usually not directly in back but rather from the side-back. Often it's about 30 or 40 degrees away from directly in back. For this purpose I usually use a fresnel, perhaps with a 1/4 CTB gel to simulate the blue cast of moonlight.
Then I add a tiny amount of fill light in front, usually using a full-spectrum fluorescent with daylight bulbs but a CTO gel on the front to bring the fill light to about 3200 degrees color temperature. This adds some detail to the face while still keeping it in darkness, and also adds a little sparkle to the eyes.
Then I'll often add a practical lamp with a very low-wattage bulb (25 watts or even 15) to make the fill light appear motivated. The low-wattage is to prevent the light from appearing too prominent.
The result is a figure clearly in darkness, yet with some detail in the face and with a beautiful shaft of moonlight falling on the edge of their face from the back. This is just one example; many other set-ups are possible.
When lighting someone from the front now, perhaps I'll put the key at 45 degrees front (usually a full-spectrum fluorescent) and the fill light on the other side of the camera (often a diffused fluorescent dimmed down).
Then I'll add an edge light (lower) or hair light (higher up) from the back on the same side as the fill light, usually a fresnel again, with perhaps a pale peach gel to warm up the back light a little. Again, this is just one possible example.
But the result of using that back light or edge light is just remarkable. It adds dimension and depth to the figure, a beautiful modeling along the side of the face and hair, and it seems to pop them out from the background.
This of course is old hat to cinematographers who have studied their craft for years, but to me the discovery of the creative uses of back lighting and edge lighting have been quite transformative in opening up possibilities of the lighting effects that are achievable.
—jim sloman, 1/13/02
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