Sometimes you don’t have to work at creating a background because you are blessed with the colours of nature. Or you’re just smart enough to go out at sunrise or sunset.

Both of these pictures are pre-dawn. The colour in the sky at this time is called “afterglow” and I especially like this twilight time for the two-tone effect. 

However, you have to add some light because with the subject’s back to the light, the front is completely dark.

In the first one, with short sleeves, I used fill flash – my favourite weapon of choice – as I so frequently keep telling you guys. With the one with jacket, I used fill flash also, but not quite enough. Thank God for Lightroom’s brush! I used it to lighten the front of the subject and add contrast as well. Boy I could never had done that in the old days; the photo would have been a discard.