What Is Rim Light and How Is It Used in Photography?
In basic terms ‘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. using rim light lifts the subject from the background in images rendered predominantly in shadow. In more complex situations, using extremely technical lighting setups rim light can be applied to one area of an otherwise well lit image, for example to the hair of a model being shot against a dark background.