5 Battle with backlight

Shooting directly into the light may seem counterintuitive, but it can make for stunning shots…

When it comes to classic still-life shots, it’s not often that the light source itself will be part of the picture. But if you have an angle-poise desk lamp with a circular reflector, you can give it the dramatic look of a rising sun behind your subject.

We arranged a chess set on a reflective surface and angled the rows of pieces inwards slightly to exaggerate the perspective. If you try this, a handy trick is to use a ruler to keep the rows lined up.

You’ll find that the strong backlighting will dominate the scene, but the pieces on the extreme left and right will fall into shadow: a couple of LED lights will pick out their edges and pull them out of the gloom.

With a desk lamp, a chess set and sufficient time to arrange a careful setup, you have all you need to create a dramatic battle scene at dawn.