In a method of picking-up a subject image including a subject (1) to be superimposed on a base image by fitting, the subject is illuminated by a first illumination unit (4) arranged in front of the subject and is picked-up by an image pick-up camera (2), a subject image signal generated by the camera is stored on a record medium in a video recorder, then the subject is illuminated by a second illumination unit (5) arranged behind the subject and picked-up the same camera under the same condition except for lighting condition, and a shadow image signal thus generated by the camera is stored on a record medium in the video recorder. By processing the shadow image signal reproduced from the record medium, it is possible to obtain a key signal having a high quality without being affected by a surface condition of the subject.