Late last night I posted a tease about “cookie” lighting. (See below) This was a popular technique at the NAPP conference. And as shown here it can also be used to isolate a background).

And of course, how and what you "light" is your preference.

The Process
Step 1 Open your image
Step 2 Open a curves layer with mask
Step 3 Drag upright hand point down 2/3ds. Click OK
Step 4 Use soft brush with opacity of your choice to “light the image” This is done on the curve layer mask using a black brush.