Shape from shading(SFS) is one of the critical techniques to recover three-dimensional shape in computer vision

which obtains 3D of the visible surface of an object from only one images of its using the shading knowledge in the given picture. The former methods are ill-posed.. In this paper

the algorithm of shape from shading based on BP neural networks is proposed

which is based on Lambertian reflection model. The suggest method has error compensation. We demonstrate the robustness of our approach to strong illumination variations and with significant pose variations. The recovered face shape is then shown along with the original surface .In comparison with the traditional methods

examples show that the algorithm is verified to be accurate and applicable.