Backlighting (lighting design)

In lighting design, backlighting is the process of illuminating the subject from the back.

This creates a glowing effect on the edges of the subject,[1] while other areas are darker.

Television productions often use this effect in soap operas, where it has become something of a cliché of the genre.

Live theatre lighting designs often use backlighting to give a more three-dimensional appearance to actors or set elements, when front lighting alone would give a flat, two-dimensional look.

A high angle can make the subject's nose extend out from the mostly vertical shadow of the head, producing a potentially unwanted highlight in the middle of the face.

Three Persons viewing the Borghese Gladiator by candlelight , by Joseph Wright of Derby , 1765
Using backlighting, this portrait is improved by not allowing the harsh sunlight to cast hot spots on the faces AND by ringing the couple with an outlining effect, thus separating them from the background. A fill flash on the camera adds the required uniform illumination to the areas shaded from the sun.