Note: This is the first of four articles exploring four different kinds of natural light you can use in your photography.

Ever been told not to shoot into the light? Forget it.

Backlighting is one of those effects that looks difficult and expensive but isn’t all that tough to achieve. With a little knowledge even a budget-bound beginner is able to make use of this cool effect.

Here’s the quick version: A backlit image is an image in which a light source is behind the main subject. This offers the potential for several interesting effects. If the back light is weak and other light sources are strong, the back light simply acts as a hair light or a rim light to separate the subject from its background. If the back light is the primary light in an image, it can be so strong that the subject becomes just a silhouette.

See exactly how it all works after the jump.

Photo by Pensiero on Flickr.

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There were some great comment’s on yesterday’s article about knowing your rights as a photographer, some of which were quite scary. Greg Banville commented that the sheet regarding photographer’s rights has helped him out of a sticky situation before, while Jessica had a strange encounter of her own:

I stopped when I saw an ambulance and some cops in an area and a large crowd.

I had my camera with me and went to take some pictures. After only snapping one picture a gentleman came and talked to me and told me I couldn’t take photos. I told him I was a reporter, this was a public place and I was in my rights to take photos.

He and a group of people who were the woman’s friends surrounded me and I started to feel threatened. Though I knew I was in the right I didn’t want it to turn into a confrontation, so I backed off and told them I was leaving.

In terms of what rights photographers have in other countries, there is this handy collection of links to local information.

Kudos to all those who participated in this week’s Photoassignment.net challenge - architecture. The group included Cheapshooter Flickr Group user mzieglertx, who joined in with a cool shot from Tacoma. Catch the slideshow below:

This week’s assignment? Framing.

The idea is to use natural or set up frames to set off the subject. Could be outdoor or indoor photos. Due on Monday, the 15th of October, at noon GMT+1.

Shoot some photos and post them to the Cheapshooter Flickr Group and I’ll post them here on Monday. Please tag all photos with the word “framing”.

One of the assignments I hate most is man-on-the-street photography. This is a catch-all assignment: go out there and find a story, damnit, or don’t come back. It always turns into me awkwardly stalking some interesting-looking person with a long lens and a notebook, constantly checking over my shoulder to see if I’m about to be nailed for being a peeping tom.

And then there’s the whole issue if the person doesn’t want their photo taken. I’ve had people come up to me and physically try and take my camera away just for pointing in their general vicinity. It gets awkward, and you’re bound to encounter it at some point if you take your camera out in public.

What exactly are your rights as a photographer? Karma aside, if someone tells you you can’t take their photo, do you have to listen?

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Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday - my schedule has gotten crazy in the past few weeks, and I’m trying to find time to write. Daily updates should continue as usual soon as things calm down again.

Something astounded me today: I didn’t realize there are people who aren’t using digital camera card readers.

I had a new photographer for the paper come in and drop photos off for the first time, complete with her Rebel XTi and USB cord.

“You know you can do that without the camera, right?” I asked.

“What, really? How do you do that?”

After a minute-long introduction to the handy-dandy USB card reader, I had a new convert to the cause. The fact is, there is little or no reason to be using your digital camera as a card reader. An external card reader has a ton of benefits and costs next to nothing. Find out more after the jump.

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