We’ve all been in some Facebook group where someone asks “How do I get rid of shadows in my portrait photography?” Or we see articles with headlines like, “HOW TO ELIMINATE SHADOWS FROM YOUR DAYTIME PORTRAITS” [1] or HOW TO KILL THE SHADOW (…IN PHOTOGRAPHY) [2] that are full of tips like ‘use your pop-up flash’ or ‘bring in a reflector’ to smack down those pesky shadows. We see articles that say “the easiest way to get of shadows is not to create them in the first place” but then go on to describe how to photoshop out your shadows. [3] We see people in pursuit of “shadowless beauty light.” And I have one question: When did shadows become the enemy?
Like, look at these comments from real, redacted people:
Shadows are not bad – you’re just using them wrong
My theory is that people hate shadows because they don’t know how to properly use shadows. They’ve seen images that have super ugly shadows that obscure the subject’s eyes – but they don’t realize that they avoid this by controlling the direction of the light. They’ve seen super harsh shadows, and don’t realize they can avoid this by diffusing the light. They’ve seen really dark shadows, and they don’t realize they can avoid this by adding a reflector or fill light to control the contrast. They’ve seen ugly shadows and made the erroneous logical leap that ‘sometimes shadows are ugly, therefore ALL shadows are ugly.’
And, at the heart of the issue – they’re not stopping to consider what shadows can do to enhance the image. Aren’t there, maybe, some benefits to having shadows?
Yes, of course there’s a benefit to shadows:
Shadows create depth in a two dimensional image
If you’ve ever taken a drawing class, you’ve done this exercise: You draw a circle, and then you shade it in to make it look like a sphere. It’s the shadows that create the sense of depth and realism. If we stuck with the “shadowless beauty light” approach to lighting, that sphere would just be a circle – like some primitive cave drawing. Don’t let your photographs or videos be primitive cave drawings. Embrace the shadows.
Shadows create that illusion that there is depth, even though we all work in a format that is two dimensional. Whether you’re a photographer or a videographer or filmmaker – we’re all working on a flat image. If our lighting is flat – that further flattens our image. If the lighting has depth and shadows, the whole image has a sense of depth. It literally can make it look like things are popping off the screen.
And shadows do specific things to enhance faces and bodies. If you shoot people, you want to create light that flatters people. Right or wrong, this often means making people look slimmer or thinner. Guess what – shadows can do this for you. Shadows can define cheekbones, jawlines, collar bones, etc. Shadows can hide stomachs, or shave inches off of a person’s outline. It can make pieces of a person recede into the darkness and be unseen by the viewer. We’re going to have whole articles on how to do this coming up soon. 
But how do we avoid ugly shadows?
Shadows are extremely useful to create depth, reveal texture, create mood, and define facial features. But how do we use them effectively? How do we avoid the ugly harsh shadows that people are so afraid of? How do we know when a shadow is doing its job or not? How do we know whether a shadow is pretty or ugly?
First of all, where you place your light matters. It may sound simplistic, but where you place the light controls what is lit. It determines what is in highlight and what falls to shadow. And those shadows have a profound affect on the image and how it makes people feel. So, step one is to make sure we place the light in such a way that the shadows fall where we want. Because of this, we’re going to have a whole series of blog posts that talk about direction of light.
Second, we realize that direction of light is only part of the equation. The angle of the light affects where shadows fall, but it doesn’t affect how harsh or soft the shadows are, that’s determined by the relative size of the light source – so we’re going to talk about quality of light in the next section. And it doesn’t affect how light or dark the shadows are, so in the third section we’re going to talk about relative intensity of light.
By the end of those three sections, you’re going to command an impressive understanding and control of shadows. And you’ll never again see the shadow as your enemy.