Exercise 4- High Key & Low Key 

What Is High Key Photography?

High key photography is a style of photography that uses unusually bright lighting to reduce or completely blow out dark shadows in the image. High key shots usually lack dark tones and the high key look is generally thought of as positive and upbeat. High key lighting is used a lot for portrait photography as well as product photography. It is different from low key photography, which produces the opposite effect. Low key images are darkly lit and have high contrast. Low key lighting is fairly minimal as compared to high key lighting.

Pieces of Equipment You Might Want for High Key Photography

You can get away with a small lighting kit when shooting low key photographs, but a high key lighting setup will require a more robust selection of lights in order to increase the number of light sources and available light. Since you may not have the lighting at home for this use what you have and try this:

• Background lights & reflectors too background lights can increase the amount of light on your subject and help you get an unnaturally high amount of light.

• A subject with a lot of shadows.  Try not to pick something that is flat or that has very little contrast.

• White background: A white background is the ideal backdrop for most high key studio photography. White bounces artificial and natural light back onto your subject and decreases the overall contrast to amp up the high key look. 

Camera Settings You Need for High Key Photography

You should have a good sense of what camera settings are most commonly used in high key photography. As with all photography, getting the right settings can be a process of trial and error. Below are some baseline settings for high key photography that you can play around with during your high key photography shoot:

• Exposure: Set your shutter speed in order to overexpose your image. This will make sure your photo is adequately lit to achieve the high key look. 

• Aperture: Set it as high as your subject will allow.

• ISO: Start with your ISO around 100 or whatever the lowest ISO your camera is capable of. 

• Exposure compensation: If you happen to be using aperture priority make sure that you use exposure compensation to amp up the exposure two to three stops.

Last Tips/Tricks if you get stuck

 So much of becoming a good high key photographer comes from practice. You’ll develop your own style as you shoot more high key images. Below are some photography tips to get started on your first few high key shoots:

• Spread the light. Use as much light as possible and make sure that your light fills the space you are working in. Your subject should be lit from 360 degrees if possible to reduce shadow and contrast. Remember that less is not more when it comes to high key photography. You are trying to achieve an unnaturally lit image and therefore you can afford to overdo it on the light. If you have limited light sources, use a diffuser to spread the available light.

• Use shadows. Just because you are trying to reduce shadows overall doesn’t mean that high key photography doesn’t sometimes incorporate shadows. You should use fill lights to offset most shadows from your main lights. That being said, some shadows are unavailable, especially when shooting outside in natural light.

• Post-processing. Editing and post-processing are incredibly important for high key photography. During high key shoots, you are trying to blow out your subjects with an abundance of light. During post-processing and editing, you can tone down the lighting to ensure that enough detail is showing up in your images.

What Is Low Key Photography?

Low key photography is a type of photography that uses mostly dark tones to produce high contrast, dramatic images. The compositional techniques demonstrated in low key photography trace their roots back to the Renaissance when painters started experimenting with a technique known as chiaroscuro to produce dark paintings. Low key images share a lot with chiaroscuro paintings and tend to incorporate less light than other photographs.

Equipment You May Need for Low Key Photography

Having the right equipment is very important before you start taking low key photographs. Below is a list of basic things you’ll want to look for before your shoot:

• Black backdrop: A black backdrop is instrumental in shooting low key images, particularly a low key portrait. One of the most basic low key lighting setups for portraiture is to put some space between your subject and the backdrop and use a single light source from the side with your main camera flash turned off.

• Reflector or a big white sheet/piece of paper: A reflector can be very useful, especially if you aren’t working with very many lights or are shooting outside. Reflectors can expand the reach of studio lights and allow you greater control of your source of light. With a reflector, you can manipulate how shadows fall and which side of the subject is the best lit.

Camera Settings You Need for Low Key Photography

One of the nice things about low key photography is that you have a fair amount of latitude to play around with camera settings. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to limit the amount of light entering the camera lens while still keeping your subject visible. That being said, here are some baseline settings that you might want to start with and then change things up as you experiment:

• Low ISO: Start with your ISO as low as it will go on your camera. This will ensure that your subject is dark but your image remains noise-free.

• Low f-stop: Starting at a low f-stop will allow in a fair amount of light. As always, this is a baseline. Start with a low f-stop and adjust as you see fit.

• Fast shutter speed. A fast shutter speed will keep your images on the dark side. You may run the risk of underexposure so play around with shutter speed over the course of your photography session.

Last Tips/Tricks in case you get stuck

Having the right equipment and understanding baseline camera settings are very important, but most of the practical knowledge you need to shoot low key images will come through practice. That being said, here’s a list of photography tips that can help you as you get started shooting low key photographs:

• Rembrandt lighting: Rembrandt lighting is a style of lighting named after the Dutch painter. Rembrandt popularized a style of painting where a triangle of light falls over the dark side of his subject. This produces darkly lit images with a variety of interesting shapes and textures. Rembrandt lighting in photography is best replicated by using a single light source.

• Single light: Rembrandt lighting is one of a few lighting techniques that work well with a single light source. If you’re using one light when shooting low key, it’s important to keep an eye out for underexposure and adjust your camera settings accordingly.

• Black and white: Black and white is a popular color scheme to work in when you are shooting low key photography. Black and white naturally accentuates the contrast between light and dark and can make underlit images more compelling because the small amounts of light draw attention to themselves in contrast to the black.

• Editing: Editing and post-processing are incredibly important when shooting low key images. When you shoot low key, you run the risk of having images that are underexposed and subjects that are underlit. Using proper photo editing software can help tweak low key photos and get them to a place where they are clear but still dramatic and moody.