Backlighting
Lighting from behind the subject, making edges glow while the camera-facing side falls darker.
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What it is
Backlighting puts the main source behind the subject, pointing toward the camera. The source can turn hair, leaves, smoke, and translucent fabric luminous while the front falls into shadow. Expose for the bright background and the subject may become a silhouette; expose for the subject and the background may wash toward white.
Reach for it when edges and atmosphere matter more than front detail: a person against low sun, steam above food, dust in a room, or a drink whose color should glow through the glass. The older name contre-jour, French for against daylight, describes the same basic direction when the camera faces toward the light.
Gotcha: a source aimed into the lens can drain contrast and throw flare across the frame. Shade the lens with a hood or flag when you want clean blacks, and add a bounce or separate front light when the face still needs detail. Watch the highlight warning too: once the rim or sky is clipped, lowering it later will not bring the texture back.
Ask AI for it
Use the contre-jour backlighting technique at late afternoon: place the low sun directly behind the subject and just outside the lens axis so hair and shoulders catch a bright natural rim. Expose to retain highlight detail in the sky, add a white reflector near camera for gentle facial fill, and use a lens hood to keep blacks clean. Allow one small optical flare, but no uniform haze or fake glowing outline.