High Key

[tirediron]

Like Charlie, I was thinking you were using continuous lighting, and that was about the only way I could think to get enough light to get close to high key. This is a good guide to a simple high-key set-up; as you can see, it's not far removed from your original set-up. I think flagging your background light(s) will help a LOT.

 

[cgipson1]

So I should have a fill thats equal to the key?

No.. you still want some difference in Ratios... check this out, again From Jerry Central, lol! : Lighting Ratio Chart ? Jerry Schmidt « Photographic Education ? JerryCentral

 

[amolitor]

I'm pretty sure high key used to mean lights left, right, and center, all equal.

Now it seems to mean something to do with white backgrounds, so I'm not sure what's going on.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Not bad. A few of your crops seem too tight. Try not to clip appendages. The elbow was forgivable but one of the first few where you clipped both hands just looks odd.

 

[ralphh]

This is your wife? Wow, lucky you She'll save you a lot of time and hassle on finding models

Clearly my eyes are going, but I see no warts at all in the warts-and-all version - she looks great from here!

The second set you posted are much better than the first, they're really quite good in fact. Your wife either has quite a bit of practice, or is a natural at posing.

As it's been said it all comes down to lighting rather than exposure in creating the look. Shadows aside, even in the second set which is better your background is much too powerfully lit and it's bleeding onto her quite a bit - esp noticeable around the arms.

Seems like you're trying to get that background as burnt out as possible straight out of camera. Don't.

Get it so it's just starting to burn out in the hot-spots. It's easy enough to go over it with the dodge tool and bring it up to white in post if it's not quite white enough all over and you'll get much less spill onto your wife.

If i had to guess, I'd say you want to expose her about 1 stop brighter, and your background about a stop or so darker.

She seems very much lit by the background in the raw you posted. Also, if your diagram is accurate, your key light is almost behind her, rather than in front...

btw, the 'bed-head' that charlie pulled out as being good.. love it!! :thumbup:

 

[Thayli]

This is your wife? Wow, lucky you She'll save you a lot of time and hassle on finding models

btw, the 'bed-head' that charlie pulled out as being good.. love it!! :thumbup:

Yeah I must admit its hard to have a bad picture with her at times. Ironically enough, the only reason I got into portrait photography was we had a kid 11 months ago and my wife was feeling a bit fat and ugly, (her words not mine), so a couple of months after little one I did a bit of learning online, broke my old Oly E-20 out of its drawer, and we set about getting her confidence back. Bizarre way of getting into photography, but im glad i did.

And since they seem to be well received, I'll finish up with another couple from the other night.

 

[ralphh]

Well she is certainly neither

Her figure has certainly bounced back

We had a baby 4 months ago, and my wife has amazed me by already bouncing back to a 25" waist with no effort at all.

I was gonna take some photos of her this weekend and start a "yummy mummies" thread in the photo themes (dunno if you have that phase in the US - a much more polite and English version of 'MILF'). You should definitely add a few when I do

 

[cgipson1]

The last ones you posted.... this one... wow! Dreamy!

View attachment 36252

background is still too bright, but the way it backlights and rimlights her.. very nice. I love her expression! (Never did care for that poughty sex kitten look in the others.. EVERYone does that.. lol!) You even have some nice definition in her eyes....

(need to clone out that one little thing, camera right...)

 

[Granddad]

I agree with Ralph. Your good lady is incredibly lovely, photogenic and wartless. Tell her I said so. Your problem now that you've displayed her to the world is going to be that you may find her being courted by every photographer between Beijing and Barnsley, Bakersfield and Buenos Aires. Be nice to her, be VERY nice!

Oh, by the way, lighting issues aside, the photos are pretty darned decent, too; you've got a very good eye for a pose.

Ralph: Good idea; like you I find the term Yummy Mummy much more gentlemanly than the U.S. term I refuse to use. Unfortunately for me my good lady is now in the Glamorous Granny phase of life (but I wouldn't swap her - even for Mrs Thayli ).

 

[kundalini]

I can't locate the article at the moment, but essentially for true high key images, all tonal values should be north of middle grey.

 

[Thayli]

I can't locate the article at the moment, but essentially for true high key images, all tonal values should be north of middle grey.

Thanks for this Kundalini. Now while I understand what middle grey is, (lush green grass) I still cant apply that understanding in a practical setting. Hell, I still cant even see it most of the time. More learning to do.

I was gonna take some photos of her this weekend and start a "yummy mummies" thread in the photo themes (dunno if you have that phase in the US - a much more polite and English version of 'MILF'). You should definitely add a few when I do

Yeah I know the Yummie Mummies lol, I may live in the US now (Mrs Thayli is US born and bred), but I spent the first 25 years of my life in Scotland. One of the wonderful things about up north is when you get involved with a non-Scot they take one look at the weather there and say "So we're moving to my country then?" My last wife was Polish and i ended up living in Poland for a few years as well. Still, in mrs thayli's defense, she didnt want to live in the US either, she had lived for 4 years in Europe when we met and wanted to stay there.

I agree with Ralph. Your good lady is incredibly lovely, photogenic and wartless. Tell her I said so. Your problem now that you've displayed her to the world is going to be that you may find her being courted by every photographer between Beijing and Barnsley, Bakersfield and Buenos Aires. Be nice to her, be VERY nice!

I will pass that on for sure. And yes, she has in the past had quite a few offers of work, including a couple of requests that I thought were quite impressive for someone with no experience. (Clothing brands I mean). At that point she decides its a bad idea though, she has a slightly younger sister who actually is a pro dancer/actress/model and seems to be quite keen on being the only one in the family. If you catch my drift lol. Things got real interesting a couple of months back though, as I'm starting to get asked by other ladies to do shots of them, at which point we learn that the sister is not the only family member capable of jealousy.

Also, and I don't why I think this, but are you from Yorkshire Grandad?

Anyway, enough of our life stories, and thank you all for your help, its been greatly informative and I appreciate it. I shall leave you with two last technicly awful, burnt to hell and back, not even close to high key shots of my wife (since you all seem to like her so much) as a thank you for all your efforts. And I shall let her know I'm now using her image as currency for feedback. (Dont think I didnt notice the pattern, I know your games:greenpbl.

 

[Granddad]

Also, and I don't why I think this, but are you from Yorkshire Grandad?

Not quite, although that could be taken as a compliment, my gran and grandad were from Yorkshire. Born in Rutland, lived all over the Midlands, married to an American I met in Hong Kong; lived in California and Oregon, now living in deepest Lincolnshire (right next door to Yorkshire) and have a daughter who lives in Washington state.

 

[Thayli]

Lol, it certainly wasnt an insult anyway. My father was a yorkshireman, and I cant put my finger on it, but something got me to thinking you were Yorkshire. Could have even just been the Bakersfield comment I guess. Still, as you say, Lincoln isnt that far removed from the moors lol.

 

[TonysTouch]

The easiest way to figure out where your exposure is in relation to middle-grey is to look at your histogram. Learn to use it, and you will love it. Big Mike posted this link a few years ago and it has great information.

Understanding Histograms