High Key

[droyz2000]

I am having trouble getting the key look. At this time I am still only using a bed sheet as a background and 2 tungsten lights. Is there anyway to get a perfect clean white with just what i have or should I continue to rely on photoshop to clean everything?

 

[ksmattfish]

You'll need to over-expose the sheet 2 or 3 stops.

 

[fmw]

The way to do that is to light the sheet with more light so that it has more luminosity. You can do it in photoshop also by using the white picker in the levels adjustment.

 

[dbyrd]

High key lighting requires alot of light that is balanced evenly. I don't know how you can do it with just two tungsten lights, especially using bed sheets. Without enough light, bedsheets tend to turn blue at the base. When I shoot high key, I use two lights on the background with my model at least 6-8 feet away from the background. I use one main light directly above camera and either 2 lights at 45 degrees bounced off the ceiling to add additional lighting throughout the entire image. I would recommend using a different background other than a bedsheet. Linoleum can be painted flat white on the back and is affordable.

 

[JonR]

Can you change the intensity of the lights? If not then it's going to be tre difficult to do.

 

[dbyrd]

Can you change the intensity of the lights? If not then it's going to be tre difficult to do.

What wattage tungsten lights are you using? You might be able to buy a couple "Blue" bulbs from a photo supply that will work better, the problem is that they get too hot after a while. Try looking at some cheap ac slave bulbs. Otherwise, adjust your camera settings to let the most light in(aperature wide open).

 

[droyz2000]

Thank you for your help. Basically I think I am going to need to wait to get more lighting. I cannot change the intesity. I can continue to do it in Photoshop, but I will be looking forward to the day when I can just take the picture and not have to use PS to edit.

 

[JonR]

The only other way to do it is to build a big diffusion panel for one of your lights and put it inbetween your subject and the main light. It'll be tricky to find the right fabric that'll work, but you're aiming to lower that light by 1- 1 1/2 stops. Then alter your aperture to expose the foreground correctly and the light exposing the background will be 1 1/2 stops higher, thus blowing it out.

Or you could buy some speedlights (get Vivitar 285HV's, they're well cheap)