Benefits of Rim Lighting

Have you ever been discouraged when taking a picture with a flash because the subject, even though lit nicely, blends into the background? There is a way to seperate the subject from the background, and that is with Rim Lighting. Rim Lighting is a technique where you add extra light to the backside(s) of the subject which will add light along the ‘rim’ of the subject. By adding this extra light the subject is seperated from the background.

Single Flash mounted on the cameras hotshoe.

The typical setup for this is having two to three light sources, one for the front of the subject, and the other(s) place to the side, slightly behind the subject for the rim light. In this example I used a two light source method because I was in a tight space. I used 2 of my Nikon SB-800′s and a Nikon SU-800 Wireless Speedlight Commander to control all of the light. The SU-800 allowed me to get away with using only two light sources for this example shot because I was able to set one flash unit up to my left for front fill light and the other on a tripod to the back side right of the subject.

I got the meter reading I wanted for the background lights then I adjusted flash output of both flash units through the SU-800. I used a +0.3 on the unit providing the rim light, and a -0.3 for the unit providing the fill light. I used a stronger light source for the rim light because I wanted the subject to have a little more pop.

A second flash unit was set up to the right and slightly behind the subject used for rim lighting.

This technique takes some practice, but will be an invaluable tool when you are shooting subjects that you want to seperate from the background. My reason for this article is to encourage you to get those flash units off of your cameras hotshoe because once you do the world of flash photography opens up. You can add depth to subjects and brighten areas within the frame.

Thanks for reading.