Hello, dear amateur photographers! We continue to introduce you to the theory of photography. And today we want to talk about such interesting creative techniques as high and low key. They are both used to add more artistry and expressiveness to photographs.
Let's look at each technique separately.
High key
A high key photograph, or, as they also say, “white on white” is a photograph in which mainly light colors predominate. This is a special artistic technique in which thick shadows are completely absent, and the subtle outlines of the object predominate. This technique is used both in portrait photography and subject photography. It is often used for catalogues, portfolios and in fashion magazines.
High key is often used to emphasize innocence, simplicity and lightness. Such subjects include romantic images, photographs of children, winter and foggy landscapes.
This technique can also be used when photographing people with problematic facial skin to hide its defects.
To achieve the desired effect - light colors - you should use objects and objects of white, light gray and pastel colors, but you do not need to overexpose them, because Overexposure can lead to the loss of important detail and volume in a photograph.
Also, an additional effect is created by a shallow depth of field, backlight (when the light source is located behind the subject) and a slight increase in exposure. When increasing the exposure, you need to carefully ensure that there are no overexposures.
Low key
The term low key (or "black on black"), on the other hand, is used to refer to photographs taken in dark tones. Low key is used to emphasize the mystery, mystery and even danger of an object. The technique can be used to convey a person’s restless internal state, melancholy, bad mood, tense atmosphere,
To create a dark tone, deep shadows, back-side lighting, a dark background and a dark color of the subjects are used.
Low key photos can be obtained in several ways:
1. Take photos in minimal lighting, and the texture of dark colors will dominate the frame.
2. Photograph a scene that contains mid-tone brightness, but shoot with underexposure and negative exposure compensation.
3. In Photoshop or any other editor, you can lower the exposure by 1-2 stops, and also add vignetting and convert it to black and white.
The technique of shooting in low key is simple, but it makes it possible to get spectacular, memorable photographs. The bottom line is that a very small, but most significant area of the future image is highlighted with light, everything else remains in deep shadow. Usually only one light source is used; if additional light is given, it is only to highlight the shadows a little. The key light is installed on the side of the subject at an angle of 45 degrees and is adjusted depending on the intended plot.
To keep the background dark, the light source is rotated away from the background so that the directed beam of light illuminates only the desired area of the object. If the shadow side turns out to be too dark, it can be slightly illuminated using a reflector.
It is known that if the photograph as a whole is dark, then the viewer’s gaze is directed to its light parts. In this case, this effect is used in order to direct the viewer’s interest to certain areas in the picture.
The main thing when photographing in low key is to set the exposure correctly. In this case, you need to focus on the bright areas of the object, and make sure that they are not over- or underexposed.
And we bring to your attention several more works performed using these techniques.
Remembering the recent video on how to turn a photo into something like a pencil sketch. You've probably seen photographs taken in this manner.
This technique is called "high key"(high key).
It looks a lot like processing in Photoshop, doesn’t it? With some skill, such photographs can be obtained without any Photoshop. True, this requires not so much the ability to operate a camera as the ability to use lighting.
This technique is characterized by the predominance of light tones over dark ones. The Soviet photography school required that when shooting in a light key, the darkest parts of the frame should not be darker than light gray. They even tried to choose gray ink for such portraits, not black. (If you look closely at the example above, you will notice that there are no very dark areas in this photo).
Western photography schools allow the presence of black or very dark details
The following are most often filmed in high key:
- portraits (usually children or women, with blond hair);
- landscapes (for example, winter snowy ones);
- still lifes.
High key photography is very popular when photographing women's portraits. The portraits are gentle, the skin looks clean and flawless. It is clear that a portrait of a man using this technique will not look quite adequate :)
How is a high key photograph taken?
Usually such photographs are taken in the studio.
A light cloth or white paper can serve as a background. Sometimes shooting can be done against the backdrop of a bright window.
This is what the light arrangement looks like when shooting in high key:
However, if you are shooting a small still life or a facial portrait, then you can get by with only one light source. It is better to place it from the front to the side so that it illuminates both the model and the background at the same time. If you use some reflectors to soften the shadows, it will be even better.
When photographing landscapes, the background can be white snow or a bright sky. And in general, any sufficiently light background.
Most often, high-key photographs are converted to black and white, so they look more comfortable.
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Vyacheslav Slobodchuk.
High key
High key is one of the photography techniques in which it is difficult to obtain significant detail of the subject. However, photos taken using this technique not only catch the eye, but also make viewers admire the skill of the photographer who created this masterpiece. If you decide to master this method of shooting, then most likely you will have to switch to black and white photography, since this is where the contours of a person are perfectly drawn, while the complexion merges with a pure white photon.
First of all, you need to understand that at home, in natural light, you can get photographs made using the technique high key, you won't succeed. It is best to contact a professional for such photographs, and not to call him to your home, but to come directly to the photographer’s studio. Here you will have at your disposal a pure white background and special lighting equipment, which is impossible to do without when preparing such photographs.
Fair-skinned people with blond or white hair are best suited for filming. However, if your model is not blonde, then you should not be upset about this, since the hair will be clearly drawn as black as night in the photo. And dark eyes will stand out with expressive coals.
Having chosen the necessary pose, you need to work on the lighting design of the photo. To high key really manifested itself, you need at least 3 soft boxes, two of which are more powerful, will be directed directly at the white screen behind the person being filmed, and one needs to shine directly into the face of the person being filmed. The difference in the power of the light sources is due to the fact that no additional shadows appear in the photo, spoiling the entire impression of the image.
It is advisable to increase the shutter speed a little, this way you will whiten your face even more and make the shadow transitions thinner and more graceful. High key it is considered successful if in the photograph, instead of a clear and detailed image, you can only see the contours of the face, lips and eyes, all in gray tones. If you are completely and completely satisfied with the resulting result, then you can consider that you have a perfectly executed portrait at your disposal, and it will definitely become the envy of others.
Nobody forbids you to experiment at home, trying to get the perfect pictures. However, in order to have a photograph made according to all the canons of photographic art, using modern technology, it is best to go to the studio of a real professional.
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A high key photograph is a portrait shot on a white or specially bleached background. A bright and attractive snow-white background in a photo always has extraordinary positive energy. Using such a background allows you to focus the viewer’s attention on the subject of the photograph, and not on secondary objects.
High key images use very bright light to illuminate as much of the hard shadows as possible in the photo. This type of photography was first used for screens that could not display high contrast images, but over time it branched off into a new style of photography.
Techniques for taking high key photographs
Photos taken in this style have a positive tone. This method is good for photographing an interesting, cheerful and bright subject.
Taking a good photograph in this style indoors is not easy, especially if the photographer does not have special equipment. This will make shooting outdoors on a sunny day easier and cheaper. To take photos on a snow-white background in the studio, you will need special lighting equipment.
If there is not enough light during photography, the white background may not look light, but rather gray.
In order to obtain a light background, artists use another interesting technique: they use an external flash. The method gives pretty good results. So, you can move the subject away from the background at some distance and install a flash behind it so that the light is directed towards the background. Such a premium allows you to get a high-quality white background.
Lighting options for high-key photography
To obtain photographs in this direction, the following types of lighting are used:
- Constant (continuous).
- Pulse.
If you need continuous lighting, you can opt for tungsten lamps, which produce a warm light, or fluorescent lamps, which produce a cool light. Tungsten lamps are different in that they heat up and produce a warmer light. Fluorescent ones, in turn, do not heat up and reproduce light that is more reminiscent of natural daylight.
The main disadvantage of continuous light lamps is that they have low power, which prevents the production of high-quality, high-key images.
When taking photographs, you can also use pulsed light sources. They are more versatile and have high power, which is why many photographers specializing in studio photography use only them.
To obtain high-key photographs of good quality, you need to find a balance between the combination of the illuminated background and the subject. This is quite difficult to do; such a skill requires some practice and good equipment. But if you master this skill, you can end up with memorable and beautiful artistic photographs.
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Composition and exposure are an integral part of any photographic masterpiece. It is very easy to ruin a brilliant idea for a photo by inept handling of the camera - incorrect installation. However, perfect exposure of the frame does not guarantee an excellent photo. But how often does a novice photographer think about the fact that skillful use of non-standard exposure can turn a banal subject into an admirable photograph?
A true photographic masterpiece, composition and exposure combine harmoniously.
A photograph that tells a story must be realistic... However, sometimes some exaggeration (scientifically called “hyperbole” :o) and even special effects may become necessary to create a certain mood or add dynamism to the plot.
It should be noted that here we are not talking about effects applied in a graphic editor (for example, Photoshop) after taking a photo. And even more so, not about the automatic effects built into your camera.
This article will talk about some techniques for creatively choosing exposure parameters that can create certain effects already during the photography process.
Standard exposure, which is most often set when shooting in full AUTO mode, sometimes creates false impressions of reality. For example, a scene filmed late in the afternoon may look as if the event took place in the morning. Another characteristic example: when photographing a moving object in automatic modes, the dynamism of the scene usually disappears due to the fact that the moving object turns out to be static (motionless).
Such “blunders” of the full automatic force us to move to more flexible and controllable manual exposure settings. But to reap the benefits of manual photography, exposure settings need to be used creatively!
Here I would like to warn a novice photographer who is starting to study manual modes against the advice of some “smart professionals.” The stupidest advice on using manual modes sounds something like this: “Look at what exposure parameters the camera has set in AUTO mode and set the same parameters in manual mode M” - never do this, because mindlessly copying the parameters of the automatic mode does not give you any advantages in manual modes. modes, but will only take up your time.
Manual modes require a creative approach - it's not for nothing that manual exposure settings are often called the "creative zone"!
If your camera doesn't have manual settings (the Creative Zone), you can explore the advanced Auto modes - and make good use of them, since creative exposure control usually comes down to choosing a shutter speed or aperture that differs from the camera's standard AUTO settings. .
How to use exposition creatively?
So, if you want to enhance your photos, give them life, dynamism or other effects, you will have to forget about automatic modes and get creative with the choice of exposure parameters: shutter speed, aperture and ISO. To help you, I will give you a few tips, using which during photography, you will get interesting effects that can “revive” your photos.
Here are some effects that can be created with a creative approach to choosing exposure parameters:
PART ONE. STATIC EFFECTS.
High key and low key
High key is one of the effects in photography, characterized by the absence of dark details and low contrast in the image. High key usually gives a photo a romantic and soft feel.
You can take a high-key photo by using controlled overexposure (usually no more than two exposure units) and, preferably, isolating the subject using an open aperture (small) or
Low key is the opposite of high key. Low key images are characterized by a dark background and a fairly high contrast between the light and dark areas of the image. However, losing shadow detail is still not recommended.
When photographing in low key, you need to slightly underexpose the frame and preferably use a dark background. Low key is usually used when you need to emphasize the drama of the plot.
When using semi-automatic modes, overexposure or underexposure of the frame is possible in the exposure compensation mode [+/-]
Below are three identical shots taken with normal exposure, high key and low key. Think about what emotions and associations arise when you carefully study each of these photographs.
Selective focus
Selective focus is a very effective way to give your photo a special charm.
The essence of this effect is that by controlling the camera's focus and in manual or aperture priority mode, you blur the secondary object so that it does not distract the viewer's attention from the main one, but still remains recognizable.
Look at the photo below: the main subject here is undoubtedly the butterfly. However, in the background, we can still make out a child holding this butterfly. Thus, having received two objects in the frame, we can tell the viewer which one is more important, and which one only complements the plot.
Retro effect with noise
You probably already know that high values lead to unwanted appearance in your photos. However, in some cases, noise in a photo adds a very specific mood to your subject, while high ISO values allow you to shoot in relatively low light with an open aperture or not worry about the wiggle.
For example, when shooting elderly people with high ISO values, due to noise, it is possible to give the pictures some retro charm, which goes very well with the main character of the plot.
