The Power of Shadow in Portraits 🎭

Hey Photographers — it’s Oli, with your weekly photo breakdown. Let’s start…

Today we break down this iconic image from Spike Lee’s film BlacKkKlansman. Hats off to Chayse Irvin (DoP). He shows us how controlling light, shadows, nailing exposure, can turn our photos into paintings…almost.

And while I write this for you… Lucy (my German Shepherd puppy) is enjoying a toothy disagreement with a tennis ball by my feet.

Composition - Minimal for Maximum Impact

This photo doesn’t fuss with distractions. The frame is tight, the subject dead center, eyes slightly below upper third, his face gently raised as if to meet the moment head-on. The dark around him swallows everything but his expression, leaving you with nothing else to look at, nowhere else to go.

It’s a visual conversation between you and the man, and that’s where the power, the drama 🎭 comes from.

Your takeaway

Simplicity is your friend. When in doubt, strip away the noise, so you can use negative space to create focus and intensity.

Choice of background is key. You won’t always have Hollywood crews to sort the background. So point your camera at an area with as little clutter as possible. This way you’ll have a strong subject and a clean composition to speak volumes.

Lighting - Single, Soft, Subtle

The light in this shot is doing all the talking, really. It’s soft but purposeful, a focused beam illuminating, isolating the man’s face while everything else disappears into the abyss. It pulls you into his thoughts, while the darkness around him feels heavy, almost suffocating.

The eyes and lips hold all the emotion.

Your takeaway

Remove as much ambient light as possible. Find one single soft source(a window, a single bulb or lamp). You want to guide the viewer’s eyes? Shine the light right where you want them to look, and leave the rest in shadow.

Don’t hesitate to re-arrange the room a bit if needed. 😉 It’s about creating focus, not overexposing every detail. Let the light tell the story.

Camera Gear, Techniques & Settings

Anywhere between 50mm to 85mm focal length. Far enough to let there be some room around the subject. Possibly a higher aperture, shallow depth of field. A low ISO, to keep those shadows rich, deep & clear. Not a speck of noise. The camera is doing what it should: focusing on what matters and letting the rest fall away.

Your takeaway

Shoot wide open aperture, to isolate your subject, blur out the distractions and keep your focus tight. Extra bonus: it’ll soften the skin a bit. It’s rare that a lens is tack sharp wide open… and for this photo, you do not want tack sharp!

Visual Storytelling

This is more than just a face in the dark. It’s a man wrestling with big ideas, big truths. In this scene, he’s listening to Kwame Ture’s message, and you can see the impact in his eyes. The blackness around him? That’s more than just shadow—it’s the weight of history, of struggle, pressing down or freeing from. But there’s light on his face, and that’s hope, understanding, maybe even awakening. The shot is a visual metaphor for inner change, transformation.

Your takeaway

Lighting like this can tell many stories. It can symbolise an emergence. It’s hope, growth, freedom! Or it can swallow your subject. The shadow can lock him/her in, with nowhere to go.

It’s in the expression. So either when you decide to snap the shutter button, or the direction you give your model or simply the truth of what is happening will determine which it is.

How to Recreate This Shot

1. Find a dark room, a corridor or a black backdrop.

2. Position your subject close to the edge of a soft light source (think: window with curtains or a large softbox), but put some distance between subject & backdrop.

3. Use a long normal (50mm) or telephoto lens (85mm or longer) at a wide aperture (f/2.8 or wider).

4. Expose for the highlights on the face, letting the background fall to black.

5. Direct your subject to look straight into the camera with intensity.

Key settings:

• Native ISO or Low ISO (100-400) for clean blacks

• Wide aperture (f/1.8 - f/2.8) for shallow depth of field

How to Edit in Lightroom

1. Lower exposure slightly.

2. Crush the blacks in the tone curve.

3. Boost contrast to deepen shadows.

4. Carefully dodge (brighten) around the eyes, possible even increase clarity in the pupils.

5. Use a radial filter to soften the light on the face.

6. Consider a gentle vignette to further darken edges

7. Add a subtle warm color grade to the midtones

8. Desaturate the background for a cleaner look.

Remember, the power is in the simplicity. Don't overcomplicate it – let the face tell the story!

PS: Reply & let me know what image or movie you want me to break down next.