How to Use Off-Camera Flash to Change Background Color – Without Changing the Background

Photographer and educator Ryan Troy is back in studio with a quick and clever lighting tutorial showing how to completely transform the look of a backdrop using nothing more than strategic light placement. No background swaps, no Photoshop tricks – just off-camera flash, modifiers, and positioning.

One Backdrop, Two Looks

Ryan’s working with Savage’s Mocha seamless paper – a light brown tone – but points out that Savage also offers a darker brown version. His goal: to show how to make one backdrop look like both, simply by controlling the light. This not only saves money but keeps your setup streamlined.

He starts with his go-to beauty portrait setup:

• A large umbrella in front, acting as the key light
• A reflector on a posing table bouncing light back up for a soft, butterfly-style lighting pattern

With the umbrella aimed directly at the model and some spill hitting the background, the mocha backdrop looks bright and light.

Then, Ryan adds a white V-Flat to bounce light back onto the subject from the side. Once he feathers the umbrella forward and away from the backdrop – and uses the V-Flat to redirect the light toward the subject – the background immediately shifts to a much darker tone. The backdrop hasn’t changed at all, but the light falloff makes it look like it has.

Controlling Light, Controlling Background

The secret is simple: If your key light spills onto the background, it’ll appear lighter. If you keep that light off the background – by feathering it forward and controlling the bounce – it darkens significantly. Ryan fine-tunes this with a reflector under the model’s chin and a white V-Flat beside her. This keeps the subject well lit without allowing light to hit the background.