Photography Tips - Backlight: shooting into the light (P1)

Shooting against the light or 'Backlighting' as it's also called is probably the opposite of what you've been told about lighting. When I was learning everyone said to keep the light behind me - probably over my left shoulder. But some of the most interesting photos with the most dramatic lighting are taken against the light. I know it sounds nuts but you shoot against the light whenever you take a photo of a sunset!
So why does shooting against the light look good? With light coming towards the camera it creates shadows on the camera side of whatever you're photographing. If it's a person their face will be in their own shadow so the light will be even. If you're photographing something with texture, the shadows coming towards the camera will make the textures stand out. And in both cases there will be what's called a rim light around your subject.
Backlight sometimes needs a bit of extra care with exposure and if this happens to you you can either increase your exposure manually, or if you're in a semi auto mode you can use exposure compensation (www.photography...) which is what I usually do.
Mike Browne