Contre- jour

Contre-jour is a photography technique and refers to the types of photographs which are captured by placing the camera in such a way where the source of light directly hits the front of the camera. The term "Contre-Jour" is derived from a French term which means "against daylight". Contre-jour is also termed as "backlighting".

In the photography technique, Contre-jour, the image produced portrays the backlighting of the subject. Contre-Jour is technique more often used where the outline of the subject is considered more important than detailed imaging. As per this photography technique, the details of the subject in the image is absent and because of the light source hitting the lens of the camera a stronger contrast between light and dark is received in the image shot. The Contre-jour method of photography creates a silhouette effect and the image produced is observed to be more like an outline of the shapes.

Sun or other brighter source of light, to which the camera faces are often seen as a bright spot or surface behind the subject in an image received as per the photography technique of Contre-Jour.

Contre-jour in photography is also considered as a specified stream where in expertise is required to put the subject and the light source at a perfect distance and the precision of the photography technique lies in the fact where the subject is portrayed in a way where the outline detailing is definitely not missed and the source of light acts as a catalyst and not a destroyer for the image clicked.