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Photographers - Do Those @#$%@ Shadows Give You Nightmares?

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Author: Dan Eitreim

Unwanted shadows behind our photographic subjects are ugly, distracting and the bane of all photographers - here are a few simple solutions to the problem of getting rid of them...

My photography students send questions all the time about how to get rid of shadows. Anywhere there is light, there are shadows. Shadows are a constant problem for photographers. The good news is, there are a lot of really simple solutions to the problem. Let's first examine, what causes the shadow? Obviously, shadows are created by the light hitting your subject, and not the background behind them. So, if shadows falling on the background is a problem for you, one way to remove the problem is to remove the background. Clearly, if there is nothing for the shadow to fall on, voilà! No shadow. Simple fix number one would be - remove the background. In an outdoor setting, position your subject so there is nothing behind them! (Not rocket science.) If you are shooting indoors, you're not going to be able to take down the walls, but you can move the subject further into the room and away from them. Rather than backing them up against the wall and shooting mugshots, position your subjects closer to the middle of the room. Your problems with shadows will disappear. Can't, or don't want to move them into the middle of a room? Another shadow fix is; position a light to hit the background. If you're using a "studio" lighting setup, get your subject posed the way you like them, get them lit the way you want them, and then add an additional light that strikes only the background and not the subject. This setup comes with a bonus. Not only are you going to remove your shadows, but with the use of colored gels, cookies, and scrims - you can hit the background with different colors, patterns and shapes. This way, your additional light becomes a design element not just a shadow removal system. Much is written about how light works. You can think of it like a ball on a billiards table. Light approaches the subject at a certain angle and reflects off the subject at the same angle. (Like a billiards ball striking the cushion and bouncing off.) This is called the angle of incidence. The shadow on the other hand, is easier to understand. It is always in direct line with the light, no angles involved. This makes the shadow very predictable, you can change the angle of the lights, so that the shadows fall into an area that won't show in the final photo. Outdoors, you can't move the sun, so you change the angles by moving your subject so that the light is hitting them from the direction that you want. If you're using a studio set up indoors, it's easy to move around the lights and get the best angle. If you are shooting with only an on camera flash, angle it so the light bounces off the ceiling or a wall to change the angle of incidence. Sometimes it's the intensity or harshness of the shadow that's causing the problem. This is caused by the relative strength and size of the light. Lowering the intensity of the light, will also lower the intensity of the shadow. It'll still be there, but it won't be quite so distracting. There are two simple ways to lower the intensity of the light. One is to use less power, the other would be to use the same amount of power - but with the light further back. Another way to minimize the effect of shadows, is to make your light source larger. You can make it bigger with umbrellas, softboxes and scrims. A softbox or umbrella in front of your light is like a cloud moving between the sun and your subject. The cloud diffuses the light making the entire cloud a light source, rather than just the tiny little sun. The next time you're outside try to observe some shadows before and after the sun has been blocked by clouds. You should see a dramatic difference. This article is by no means an exhaustive solution to the problem, there are entire books written about the subject. However, this should give you something to consider. You may reprint or republish this article at will as long as it remains intact and unchanged. Including the author bio box.

Dan Eitreim is the founder of PartTimePhotography.com, a web-site and newsletter devoted to teaching YOU how to sell YOUR OWN photography. He says that he can teach ANYONE how to start earning a Part Time photo income in as little as 2 weeks. Go to: http://www.PartTimePhotography.com or http://www.FreelancePromo.com