Easter Shoot In High Key

smoke665 · Mar 16, 2018

I struggle with High Key, so I figure the more practice the better. One issue is that I need another background light (soon to be resolved). And white paper as opposed to a sheet. Just to easy to get wrinkles in a sheet. Anyhow, C&C always appreciated.

no-image-available-grid.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

tirediron · Mar 16, 2018

A tough subject for high key lighting. IMO, it's not actually high key ('though it's close) as you have very distinct shadows image left and in front. It also looks like you're a bit over-exposed toward the back, as her haunches seem to have lost detail. One issue that is likely causing at least of the problem is the subject's proximity to the background. Because you need to light the subject and background separately, you need separation. I would look for at least 3-5' and 6-8' or more is even better.

smoke665 · Mar 16, 2018

tirediron said:
A tough subject for high key lighting. IMO, it's not actually high key ('though it's close) as you have very distinct shadows image left and in front. It also looks like you're a bit over-exposed toward the back, as her haunches seem to have lost detail. One issue that is likely causing at least of the problem is the subject's proximity to the background. Because you need to light the subject and background separately, you need separation. I would look for at least 3-5' and 6-8' or more is even better.

Maybe I should add a question mark after the title???? :allteeth:

Separation- is that 6' from the head or the but? LOL Yeah I agree with you that more is better, but 6' at the nose is more like 3' at the rear. :allteeth:

I could have turned her sideways but my intent was to have the body "blend" into the background. I had a hair light coming in from above and behind and still bumped the exposure about a 1/2 stop in LR, in the original image there's a lot of detail, so it did mostly what I wanted. I was lighting the background with one light/with reflective umbrella from the left side. I had to pull it back to get light all the way across. If I'd had the second light available I could have put one on each side and moved them closer. Or if I'd had a good boom maybe going above and centered?

Lastly, doing anything like this with a sheet is near impossible. Sadie does really well, in staying still, but even the slightest movement and a wrinkle forms. I've been wanting a roll of paper for awhile, may be time to invest in one.

smoke665 · Mar 16, 2018

Went back to the original Raw file and worked one of the images in LR. Still not what I'd call a high key, but the image is better.

Easter03162018_561.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

tirediron · Mar 16, 2018

Definitely much nicer processing here, 'though looking at the others on my editing monitor, they are much less blown than I at first thought. This is nothing more than an excuse to buy some more lights. Ten is a good number! You can light pretty much anything you need with ten lights!

Edited to add: Sadie looks like her patience is coming to an end... :lol:

smoke665 · Mar 16, 2018

tirediron said:
Sadie looks like her patience is coming to an end

Sadie is such a patient creature, she does really well be photographed, as long as she's the center of attention, she gets loved on during the process, and there's a treat in my pocket that she knows can be hers at anytime.

zombiesniper · Mar 16, 2018

John is bang on with the separation. It will make this a lot easier to do.

The one or two that I did I had the subject 8' from the backdrop.
The method that made sense for was as follows.
I set my expected subject exposure then without the subject in frame turned up the backdrop light until it was just on the blown out side of pure white.
Next I brought in the subject and set the key light to properly expose the subject.

Good first go at it.

smoke665 · Mar 16, 2018

zombiesniper said:
The one or two that I did I had the subject 8' from the backdrop.
The method that made sense for was as follows.
I set my expected subject exposure then without the subject in frame turned up the backdrop light until it was just on the blown out side of pure white.
Next I brought in the subject and set the key light to properly expose the subject.

I've done several high key, but they've been of smaller/stationary subjects. This is a first attempt at something larger and mobile. Previously I've done the same as your suggestion, but of late, I've been moving more toward doing things by the numbers for quick repeatablity. Rather than a blown background I want to be at a predictable number (as close to 255 as I can get without crossing over). Thanks to Derrel's link to a video by Dean Collins
)
I'm making progress on backgrounds.

While Sadie may be patient she does have her limits, so I used a stand in teddy bear to set it up. The subject key light was adjusted to an incident reading of f/8 with a 1/1 ratio on fill. Then using the process described in the video, I used a reflected reading off the background to adjust that light. In a perfect world the background should have been just under pure white, but the teddy bear wasn't Sadie, my background wasn't totally vertical (it started out horizontal under her then curved upward to vertical), and I was having problems getting a good reflective reading with my meter. It was however a good learning experience.

Christie Photo · Mar 16, 2018

Wow. It seems "high key" has evolved over the decades. It once meant a white (or very light) subject shot on a white (or very light) background using only white (or very light) props. We called this keying the background to the subject.

Shadows were essential to communicate shape and texture, but none (or very little) on the background.

Seems there's a whole different connotation now.

-Pete

smoke665 · Mar 16, 2018

Christie Photo said:
Wow. It seems "high key" has evolved over the decades. It once meant a white (or very light) subject shot on a white (or very light) background using only white (or very light) props. We called this keying the background to the subject.

Shadows were essential to communicate shape and texture, but none (or very little) on the background.

Seems there's a whole different connotation now.

-Pete

Not necessarily, the simplest definition I've seen of a high key image is a diminished tonal range of primarily whites and light grays, while high key lighting dates back to early film and tv days and refers to a low lighting ratio of homogenous tones free from dark shadows.

There are similarities but subtle differences that are frequently combined.