A method and system for detecting a shadow region and a highlight region from a foreground region in a surveillance system, and a recording medium thereof, are provided. The system includes an image capturing unit to capture a new image, a background model unit to receive the new image and update a stored background model with the new image, a difference image obtaining unit to compare the new image with the background model and to obtain a difference image between the new image and the background model, a penumbra region extraction unit to extract a partial shadow region or a partial highlight region by measuring a sharpness of an edge of the difference image and expanding a background region, and an umbra region extraction unit to extract a complete shadow region or a complete highlight region based on the result of the extraction by the penumbra region extraction unit.