{"id":5999,"date":"2016-10-27T10:36:19","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T10:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/?p=5999"},"modified":"2016-10-27T11:47:28","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T11:47:28","slug":"high-key-portraits-a-guide-to-lighting-techniques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/high-key-portraits-a-guide-to-lighting-techniques\/","title":{"rendered":"High Key Portraits – A Guide To Lighting Techniques"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"model<\/a>
Outdoor natural light high key shot with reflector positioned just below model’s face to soften shadows<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/span>I\u2019m going to preface this article by saying that as a photographer I very rarely, if ever, shoot with what is true high key lighting. High key portraits<\/strong> lighting was never really a style choice but more one born out of necessity when older film couldn\u2019t cope particularly well with high contrast lighting.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s definitely a style choice when inside the studio; personally, I like a bit of depth and contrast in my portraits but that\u2019s the great thing about art, everyone is different and has their own vision and taste, otherwise can you imagine how boring the world would be.<\/p>\n

\"Outdoor<\/a>
Outdoor natural light. No reflector needed for this shot as it was a late afternoon shoot with great natural light<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you are looking to shoot high key images in a studio, you\u2019re going to need a fair bit of kit. You\u2019ll need two lights lighting your background, and preferably two lights on your subject or one light and some good reflector work. Now, high key is not about overexposing your subject.<\/p>\n

What High Key Portraits Isn’t<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ll see lots of examples online claiming to be high key portraits with blown highlights and huge loss of detail \u2013 that\u2019s not what you\u2019re looking for. It\u2019s about controlling the lighting ratio to reduce contrast across an image, not dazzling the viewer with brightness \u2013 turning your lights up to 11 isn\u2019t the answer here.<\/p>\n

\"high<\/a>
Not strictly high key as the shadows on the side of the models face bring a lot of contrast into the shot. 2 lights on the background, one to the model’s left and a reflector on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Traditionally and for the best results you need a key light on your subject, a fill light both about 20 degrees off camera and two light illuminating the background \u2013 normally about a stop higher than your exposure to give that white background.<\/p>\n

This is where I like to change things up, I find this setup not the most dynamic of lighting so I tend to put my key light at more of an angle and a bit higher than I would use for high key and I either ditch the fill light or use a reflector to soften the shadows a little bit.<\/p>\n

\"Actors<\/a>
Indoor natural light shot by a window in a white room which acted as a reflector<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now if you are looking to shoot a high key style image outside you\u2019re going to need to choose your position carefully. Watch out for shadows falling across your subject or background and the key here is to overexpose your image by at least one stop. If you are looking to get flattering images of your subject then overexposing by 1 stop will do wonders for their skin anyway.<\/p>\n

In general, it\u2019s a good technique to have in your arsenal and one that\u2019s relatively easy to accomplish \u2013 just remember to adapt it to suit your own personal style and don\u2019t be a slave to techniques \u2013 especially one that was developed due to technological limitations rather than artistic reasons.<\/p>\n

This article on high key portraits photography was written by<\/p>\n

Alex Lagarrejos<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0alexlagarejos.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0I\u2019m going to preface this article by saying that as a photographer I very rarely, if ever, shoot with what is true high key lighting. 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