The Background Light
Click to explore the background light.
A background light can be used to control how light or dark the background behind the subject is. A lighter or darker background can help visually separate the subject from the background. It can also lighten shadows cast on the background by other lights. In fact, if made light enough, it can silhouette the subject.
The background light can be varied for different effects. When only spillover light illuminates the background (topleft) it's a uniform gray. When not illuminated at all (top-right) it's black. When the background is lit by a spot it is graduated (bottom-left). When illuminated with a bright light it is burned out to pure white (bottomright).