Image Bank - High Key Photography

High Key photography uses bright lights to remove all dark shadowing from the faces and objects. This gives clarity and brightens the subject of the image. It was first developed for screens which could not properly display high contrast ratios. There are usually at least 4 lights , two aiming at the background and another two focusing on the subject. The two lights at the back are brighter and this is so it brightens up the background and removes any possible shadowing from behind the subject. To capture high key photography the background needs to be over exposed whilst the subject is still properly exposed.

These 6 images are showing examples of high key photography. The backgrounds are all white and this colour background helps to brighten the picture even more. Due to the bright background it makes the object in the image focused. 3 of the images are in black and white but it is clear to see that these images have used the high key technique, this is due to the capturing of the models in a way which has created a bold and clear final image. I feel the high key technique is used and shown more clearly when the images are in colour. This is because the colours used are captured more vividly due to the contrast against the white background.