In a graphics processing system, a bounding volume (20) representing the volume of a scene to be rendered and a cube texture (30) representing the transparency of the surface of the bounding volume are defined. Then, when the scene is to be rendered for output, a vector (28) from a sampling point (25) being considered to a light source (22) external of the bounding volume is determined and then used to determine how to sample the texture that represents the transparency of the surface of the bounding volume to determine the transparency of the surface of the bounding volume between the sampling point and the light source. The so-determined transparency is then used to simulate the effect of shadows cast by the external light source (22) at the sampling point (25).