Lighting of the Fortnight: High Key (part 1)

Jan 28, 2011 by Bo    3 Comments    Posted under: Lighting of the Fortnight, Lighting Setups

This fortnight we will be looking at a high key photograph using just natural light (we will explore how to replicate this in studio int he next Lighting of the Fortnight).  I like high key photographs as it gives such a soft sensual feel to the photograph as you can see below.

With these high key photographs, I did not use any studio lights, simply direct window lighting.   With the model up against the window, and the full blast of the sun behind her, I exposed on the model and blew out the background.   To add just a bit of light on the model, I added big reflectors to give as much bounce light as I can as well as wrap around lighting.

Things to be weary of when shooting directly into the light is obviously flare.  Sometimes it is nice to just a little flare for  effect.  Also shooting directly into the sun will also loose contrast and saturation in the photograph; this can probably be solved using some kind of filter, I’ve just simply did everything in retouching.    Other minor snippets to watch out for is your focus, this is often a trial for the autofocus system as the bits you need to have in focus is all in the shadows.

Here is a quick setup diagram.

A very simple lighting setup, be sure to come back next time as we look at how to replicate this lighting effect  using strobe lights.

As this is a new blog series, any feedback would be appreciate it.  Leave me a comment below, or if you have any questions or if there is anything I did not cover, feel free to drop me a line below and I would be happy to answer.   In the meanwhile check out our other Lighting Of the Fortnight tutorials,  Photo Breakdowns and past photoshoot recaps.  Enjoy

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