After setting the Key light, you may find that the darker side of the face is too dark for your tastes. There are several methods for adding Fill light to reduce the shadows.

In the setup shown in the viewer at the beginning of this lesson, we have chosen a Rifa 44 soft light, with a 250-watt bulb, with a soft Egg Crate to control the spill.

This doesn't just apply to lighting faces. Anytime you are treating the side left shaded by the Key light you are working on the Fill.

The amount of Fill that is added depends on your taste (or the preference of the person who hired you). Keep in mind the 'look' you are attempting; especially if you are shooting something that is dramatic.

Generally you can most easily alter the mood of a shot by raising and lowering the intensity of the Fill. In fact on some soap operas the main difference in lighting between a daytime interior scene and a night setting is they drop the Fill almost all together and light the background a darker than normal.

More commonly, you may begin to consider light placement positions near the camera to hide the shadows behind the subject or more off to the opposite side from the Key light.

When the Fill is directly over the camera it adds to the Key light's exposure so consider adjusting for it. The near-the-camera position can be considered when you want to both fill shadows and still maintain a little modeling on the subject. You will most often need a less intense light for the Fill side.

As with the Key light you could adjust the distance to lessen the intensity as well as by adding scrims or neutral density gels to the light. While it could be most any kind of light, a Fill light is usually a soft source so using an umbrella or a softbox is common.

Images A & B to the right show differing levels of Fill light. Notice how image A looks more fully lit, while still maintaining the Key as the dominant light source, and the reduced Fill in image B increases its dramatic effect.

Another method of providing Fill is by bouncing the Key light off of a reflector. A specular reflector (the shiny hard side) will kick back nearly as much light as the Key light shining on it, in the same degree of hardness that strikes it.

In the example shown, the soft Key light is being reflected. A stippled reflector surface will soften the reflected light more and give less chance of secondary shadows.

Using a matte white card will provide a very soft reflected fill at close range. You may have natural fill already happening from light colored walls reflecting back to the subject. Indeed you might even plan such a situation.

Note: In highly reflective rooms, if your lighting is too flat, you might consider a technique called negative fill. This is often done by hanging a dark cloth or piece of black foamcore on the fill side to prevent stray light from providing too much fill. Experiment with different amounts of fill and see if you can manipulate the effect to change the feel of the lighting.

Along with the amount of Fill light you use, you can continue to add finesse to the lighting to reveal the subjects form by using light from angles beyond what you use for the Fill. Both Hair lights and Edge lights fall into this category.

Traditionally Hair lights are placed directly opposite the camera. It creates highlights and gives a nice shine to the hair. Small hard lights will make small hard lines and edges, which are appropriate if you are implying the motivation for the light is a hard source. Larger sources provide an even, gentle wash.

In the nineteen seventies the extreme backlight was the rage. Find a glamour photo from the era and it will likely have a strong back light blasting directly at the back of the head causing the lion's mane hair style in fashion at the time to glow. If this is what you're after, just try to keep the light far enough back so it doesn't start your subject's hair on fire.

If you are dealing with thinning hair or bald heads, you probably already have enough separation from the background; either because of the contrast or color differences, and only want to play with adding a subtle edge to the side of the head and neck. You may just need an edge on the shoulders of a dark garment that is blending into the background. See the Edge Light description below for more information. For shiny heads you could have separate lights for each shoulder or put up a traditional hair light and block, or flag, the part of the light falling on the head.