Edge lights create subtle defining 'edges', and line-like highlights, which can be added to your setup to delineate the edge of your subject. You may hear them referred to as kickers, liners or edge lights.

If your subject's dark hair or jacket seems to blend into a similarly dark background you can add an 'edge' to visibly separate, or cut them away, from the background. You provide a clue to the viewer where the subject leaves off and the background begins. If you have decided to use little or no fill an edge of some sort can enhance the dramatic effect.

To experiment with these effects start with small fixtures and keep an eye on the shadow from the subjects ear. It is popular to have a light edge along the jaw line. Try hard sources at different distances and angles. Try using a small light with an umbrella or with a diffusion gel.

Edge lights are also aimed in the direction of the camera, so be careful to keep any light from shining into the front of the lens, causing lens flare. Wave your hand in front of the light and see if a shadow falls on the camera.

How you deal with backgrounds depends on whether it is part of the story or just a neutral setting for your subject. Either way you may notice the background level is usually down, or less bright than the subject. However it is not unusual to highlight something in the background for interest. A plant or dim lamp is a common set dressing.

For the setup used in the Viewer above, we created a mottled shadow pattern on the background by shining a hard light through a cookaloris (a random pattern cut into wood, foamcore, or black foil). It was lit by a 250W focusable Pro-light, a hard source. If you look at the Setup shot in the Viewer, you will see the cookaloris, tho' the Pro is hidden from view by the Rifa Key light.

By the time you've put up your Key, Fill, Hair and Edge lights you might have light bouncing off the walls and ceiling lighting up the background too much. You can try turning off any room lights, or by adding distance between the subject and the background. In combination with these is the ability to control the lights you've placed in the setting.

It is also common to 'treat' the background using a slash of light made by putting two barndoors close together on a hard light source.

The image to the left shows a slash created by a focusable Omni-light. Focusing the light to flood will give a larger and more consistent output level to the slash.

You can mix the slash with general background fill, making it less prominent, or use the slash accent alone in a darker background to increase its effect. Coloring the slash with a gel is also a common approach.

A more practical approach to adding visual interest to the background would be to add a highlight to an object in the setting.

In this shot, we used a tiny L-light with 100 Watt lamp directed to place a small pool of light on the flowers and the picture frame. The hard light character of the lamp created a sharp shadow.

The result looks like it have could come from track lighting or a recessed ceiling light, adding to the natural feel of the effect.

A popular technique in news magazine format TV over the past 10 years has been to give the background a more obviously treated / theatrical effect. It provides a contrast of color and feel between the environment and the subject.

In this shot, we added red gel to an Omni-light, focused wide enough to cover the background area of the shot.

Use barn doors on the fixture to trim any spill that may fall on the subject, as its color will make it very noticable.