Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram

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Photo of Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram by Akash Kapoor
Photo of Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram 1/5 by Akash Kapoor
I tried it near my home at one of the street light.

Rim light is a lighting technique where the image subject is backlit and the image is exposed to hide the subject features in shadow. The technique gets its name from the fact that lighting a subject in this way produces a thin line or 'rim' of light which appears to cling to the subjects outline. Take a look at the photograph above again to understand it better.

Rim Lighting With Natural Light.

Can you make use of rim lighting without using artificial lighting? Yes, you can. All you need is for the light to come from the proper direction for your needs.

Photo of Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram 2/5 by Akash Kapoor
Rim light effect on Gray Langur.

The amazing light quality we get during Golden Hour photography is perfect for rim lighting. Golden Hour lighting is already beautiful by its very nature.

Photo of Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram 3/5 by Akash Kapoor

Moving around to capture the right direction for rim lighting is essential to natural lighting anyways. So, move around and expose for rim lighting with the setting or rising sun as your light source.

Rim lighting with Artificial light.

Photo of Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram 4/5 by Akash Kapoor
Rim light effect on Malabar Pit Viper using a single flash of torch.

Keep it simple. You can use different lighting setup to create rim light effect but if you are choosing wildlife macros, always do it under the guidance of an expert guide or a naturalist without harming wildlife.

Photo of Why Rim Lighting Will Make Your Portrait Shots the Best on Instagram 5/5 by Akash Kapoor
Malabar Gliding frog.

Follow me on instagram @akashkapoorphotography for my quick fire tips & tricks.