Rim Light is a strong light that hits the edge of the main subject of a photo. In a studio, photographers will use lights behind their subject which is brighter by one or two stops to create the rim light effect. Outdoors, the best way to create rim lighting is putting the Sun behind or to one side of your subject. Below are three examples of rim lighting. For each one, I used a flash unit or speedlight as a fill flash. If you don’t have a flash you can use for filling in the shadows, you can meter off the subject directly using spot metering.

While watching Captain Jack’s Pirate Tutorial in the Magic Kingdom, I caught the action of Captain Jack Sparrow and his young band of pirates in late afternoon sunshine. A perfect setup for creating rim lighted photographs.

The first one is subtle rim lighting with just a hint of it on some of Captain Jack Sparrow’s dreads. This was the end of the show when Jack exclaims, “Look! It’s the Governor’s daughter!”, before rushing off stage.

Subtle Rim Lighting.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/125s, f/8, ISO 250, EV +0.3, 90mm focal length, flash at -1.0 power

The second one is strong rim lighting with very bright backlighting on Captain Jack Sparrow.

Strong Rim Lighting.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/40s, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 200mm focal length, flash at -1.0 power

The last one is what I’d call just right rim lighting. Not to subtle and not too strong. Really shows the young guest having a ball with the rim lighting separating her from the background.

Just Right Rim Lighting.
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/125s, f/6.3, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 170mm focal length, flash at -1.0 power

Notice the shutter speed and aperture changes for each photo which I varied using my camera’s controls. This caused the different rim lighting affects along with the changes in the angle of the light as Jack and his recruits moved during the show.