The effects of light on a subject depends upon the the positions of the subject, the camera, and the light source. I am fond of strong back lighting, which depends upon getting subject, camera, and light source carefully aligned. Set up correctly, back lighting has the potential of giving subjects the majesty they deserve. Subjects like scrambled eggs or sorbet, for example. With a lightweight pocket camera and a small subject, the camera can be held in one hand and the subject in the other to very quickly get the lighting aligned.

A professional photographer would never mess with such foolishness. For one thing, there is twice the potential for blurring the photo with both the camera hand held and the subject hand held. Having the camera on a tripod and the subject firmly grounded, there won’t be any blur. Moreover, a professional’s camera is a massive lump of high technology, so holding it with one hand is not so easy. However, this is Quick Shot Artist, where we regularly cut corners for the sake of getting a shot that would otherwise escape.

It would be foolish for a Pro to compromise a shot paid for by the National Scrambled Egg Advisory Board. But it would also be foolish for us to let our eggs get cold while messing with a tripod and studio lights. We’d choose to miss the drama and excitement of a good food close up rather than fuss over the set up.

Once said, the technique is straightforward. Above is my hand held plate of eggs. It is actually something called a Hangtown Fry, eggs scrambled with oysters and bacon. As you might have guessed, the motivation for the shot was food blogging. Nonetheless, if you went to the trouble of making a Hangtown Fry, you too might want to record it for history.

With plate in hand, move the camera in close. Back lighting requires that the subject be nearly in line between the camera and the light source. It cannot be exactly in line, however, because then the camera would be pointing directly into the light. The camera is tipped down a little, and the subject moved down accordingly.

I lightened the shadows in Photoshop™ to show the ingrdients in the Fry. That’s a problem with back lighting. Some fill light wouldn’t hurt, but if the shadows are not too extreme Photoshop lightening suffices. Use a strong light source, like sunlight, to keep the shutter speed high to minimize blur.

Here is the technique applied to mashed potatoes. There’s celery root mashed with potatoes, but the white root is indistinguishable.

Here the technique is applied to a dish of sorbet. It was hand held in the parking lot outside of the ice cream shop. The dessert is long gone, but the photo endures.