Back light is a term that is used for two kinds of lighting in photography. Back light can also refer to background light as well as the light that is coming form the back of the subject. A number of you must have come across times when your subject completely merged into the background and there was no sense of distinction even though you kept the depth of field as low. This is not a problem with your camera settings, but your lighting.

If you wish to give a three dimensional appeal to your frame then you need to put a back light. A light that will either accentuate the background or a light coming from the back that will differentiate your subject form the surroundings. If you see the image of the girl below, you can see that a distinctive aura around her separates her from the green surroundings. This effect could not have been achieved simply by using a camera flash unit like the Cullman 34 AF-S; rather it has been achieved by throwing a light from behind her. This effect has made her look more glamorous and also accentuated the sense of distance between her and the background.

Background lights are also called as backlights. These lights are preferably used to highlight the backgrounds in cases where backgrounds contain details. For instance if you see the picture on your right, the background has been lit properly to bring out the details. In this case again, the background has been distinguished from the subject but instead of throwing light on the subject, the background has been accentuated.