PHOTO OF THE WEEK ‘SILHOUETTES’

Sometimes backlight works well. The assignment was to take photos of Glendale High School students in a stage crew class. The students were working on setting up lights for an upcoming show. I wanted to use ambient light, without flash, but found there to be too little light to expose the students properly. After trying unsuccessfully to photograph them working on the lights, I walked up to the sound booth. As I turned around I saw the lights in a pattern on the backdrop. I could see the students silhouetted against the lights. I walked back down the steps and used a wide-angle lens. I exposed for the background light and let the subjects go black.

— Scott Smeltzer