Welcome to Week 27 of our 52 Week Pet Photography Project Blog Circle. This week’s topic is “High Key”. Have you hear of “High Key” photography before?
After reading several articles and checking in with photography learning websites, the simplest definition that makes this “click” for me and hopefully is will for you, too, is: “When a photographs light is exaggerated to the bright end of the spectrum it is called “high key” photography. When it is slanted to the dark end of the spectrum it is called “low key” photography”.
To make this happen indoors, the best way would be to have several light sources along with a white backdrop/background. My studio set-up consists of one light, an Alien Bee 800 with a softbox. I would definitely need to do a lot of “post processing” to get a “high key” look with just one light.
The last few days here have been extremely warm (HOT!) outside, and if you know a little bit about me and my Husky mix, you know that we do not love warm weather. Our favorite season is winter, and I could share snow images all summer long! Snow images can make for great “high key” photos with the white snow and the open sky light source. I decided to revisit some winter images of Kota and share in this post!
These were taken in our backyard this past winter with a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground. To get the images truly “high key” I made sure to bring up my lights in lightroom. Notice the histogram for this first image – the tones are primarily “light”. The history for all of the images is similar.
Notice they are not quite pure white to blend in with the page 🙂 Notice the lack of shadows, too.
I hope this post cooled you off if you are experiencing a heat wave! It was fun for me to revisit some snow images. I love winter photos and I truly wished ALL of my clients felt the same 🙂
This is a blog circle and next up is Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati, the San Francisco Bay Area, and destinations nationwide. Click on the link to see what talented Susannah has for us this week! Enjoy your weekend!
- Inspired by “snow photos”? I’m your gal! Click here to contact me and learn more!
Great explanation of high & low key in a simple manner that everyone should understand. The examples of Kota in the snow for high key are excellent.
Agree. So cool. These images are great! Tough to do in summer – great to see the snow! Luv it
These are gorgeous Darlene, truly fine art (and I do feel cooler!).
Thanks so much, Tracy! I don’t envy you in the summers – haha!!!