Silhouettes
Photographer Ansel Adams once described backlighting as "the eloquent light."
The backlighting technique is accomplished by exposing the film for the lighter background, rather than the darker subject in the foreground. This underexposure of the subject produces the dark or silhouette effect.
The camera eye sees silhouettes better than the mind's eye, because we have a built in compensating mechanism which allows us to see detail over a wide range of tonal values. The camera's eye, lacking this built in compensation, does not see the detail in the darker subject when set to receive light from the brighter background.
Backlighted pictures on this page were produced by students in the advanced photo-journalism class.
Photos by Jim Ryun Linda Haskins Tom Jones Tim Gillisse Charles McFali Ray Ditirro
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