How To Get A Good Exposure With A Strong Backlight

In this photo, the model and I are both in an abandoned warehouse and it is dark inside.  In this photo, the setting sun was to the model’s left and behind her.  The field and sky were quite bright and she was pretty dark. As you can see in the before shot, the model turns out very dark and you cannot see much of her features. Not only that, but the bright background is dark too.  Your camera wants to adjust to an average amount of light so with the bright background, the camera compensates by making everything darker.

Here is a photo with the camera set on auto, not adjusting for difference in light levels of subject and background.

Here you can see the harsh shadows and dull background.

To light this photo, I set the exposure to make the sky look blue, not washed out blue, but a nice blue and the field showing its color too.  Then I placed a speedlight on a stand with an umbrella about 3 feet away from the model, about centered at the height of her nose. The light was pointed at her, but also at the sun.  The wall blocked light on the left side of her face.  I adjusted the amount of light needed to make her look bright enough.  The light from the flash has no effect on the background and so you get both the background and the model looking properly exposed.

Here is a diagram of the lighting set up. It is pretty simple and easy to do.