Lighting How To

If you’ve ever shot portraits in front of a seamless white background or a cyclorama, you’ve probably had to deal with pesky background shadows. They’re fine if you’re going for a dramatic look in your portraits, but what if you wanted something cleaner as your background to draw attention to your subject?

Well, there are a few ways to control background shadows in studio photography. In the below video from AdoramaTV, photographer Mark Wallace explains why adding more light to a background isn't always the best solution for eliminating a shadow.

In the video, you'll learn how light behaves and how to configure your lighting setup properly to capture the clean portrait look you’re aiming for.

“A lot of photographers, when they’re starting out, what they’ll try to do is to wash that shadow out by adding a second light.” Wallace explains. “Now that sometimes is not the best idea.”

Watch as Wallace walks you through the relatively simple process of getting rid of background shadows without adding more lights to your studio setup. So, what’s the solution? Hint: use light modifiers.