# Backlight

Light and look / Light / Contrast. Checked 2026-11-13.

A glow around the edges separates the person from the background.

- Use when: Golden-hour lifestyle, hair and fabric shots, dust or steam in the air.
- Phrase: the light source behind her, facing the lens, a bright outline on her hair and shoulders, her face in soft shade
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/light/backlight
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/light/backlight.json

## Watch out

- A style word for light does nothing. Name the source, where it sits against the person, and what fills the shadow side. (measured; Director Chair field notes on image prompting)
- Say what lights the face too (a bounce, a window), or it falls into silhouette. (film-craft; General film vocabulary, as also used in ShotDeck's filters)

## Prompts

### Nano Banana Pro

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. The light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade.
```

### Nano Banana 2

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. The light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade.
```

### GPT Image 2.5

```
A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].
Details: the light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade
Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.
```

### Seedream 5

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. The light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade.
```

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot
Light: the light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
Shot 1: one continuous shot
Light: the light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. The light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade.
```

### Veo 3.1

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image. The light source behind the subject, facing the lens, a bright outline on the subject's hair and shoulders, the subject's face in soft shade.
```

## Look further

- https://shotdeck.com/ : real film examples of this lighting (paid, link only)
- https://flim.ai/ : film, ad and music-video stills of this lighting (free tier, link only)

## Goes well with

- Rim light: https://directorchair.ai/light/rim-light
- Silhouette: https://directorchair.ai/light/silhouette
- Golden hour: https://directorchair.ai/time/golden-hour

## Source

Own words; the term from general film vocabulary, as also used in ShotDeck's filters

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.