We started a series on lighting and the different styles of lighting in which we spoke extensively on flat lighting, the advantages, disadvantages and how to achieve flat lighting. Today, we would be talking about rim lighting. Rim lighting is a light technique where the rim edges of your subject is backlit and the image is exposed to hide the subject’s features in shadow.
What equipment is needed for rim lighting?
You need two light sources to achieve beautiful rim lighting. You need a main light to light the subject, and you need another light that would serve as the rim light to light the edges of the subject.
When should you use rim light in photography?
If you’re looking to create a dramatic or silhouette scene, then you should consider rim lighting. Rim lighting can also be useful when creating depth in your portrait, in which case a background or backdrop is not needed. It also helps create the desired depth you need to achieve.
Unlike flat lighting where you can’t use natural source for lighting and you can’t document images with it aside in a studio, the reverse is the case with rim lighting because in this case, you can use natural and artificial lighting, where the natural light can face your subject and the artificial light source to form the rim light.
To understand more about Rim lighting, watch the YouTube video below as Gavin Hoey on rim lighting
