Too green?

[ORourkeK]

Your second image is much better her face don't look washed out as in the first edit.

Ok good, thanks!

 

[ORourkeK]

hey don't care what they sky or background look like as long as the subject is exposed properly. Which by properly I mean overexposed, in most of their cases

So you're letting someone dictate your vision? The original I downloaded showed a decent histogram, but your first edit showed everything pushed off the right. Don't let anyone force you into downgrading your image so you can imitate someone.

As to the image, "High Key" is a style or genre just like "Low Key", and is a decision that is made before the shutter clicks. Not all subjects/scenes lend themselves to a particular style, so you as the photographer need to know what works where and when, rather than trying to force your image to conform to a style after the fact. Read/study what others have to say about the style there's a ton of information out there on the internet that can help you, then think how you want to apply that to an actual shot. Plan the shot before you click the shutter. That's what VS was trying to tell you above. Learn to see everything in the scene, move around, look it over, think about it.

"High Key" is a style of lighting that results in an exposure with little to no shadow based on the amount of light received or a 1:1 ratio of light. It does not mean overexposed! Anytime you push your exposure off the right you loose data in the file. By it's very nature, "High Key" results in very low contrast and soft transitions in the shadows, but a properly exposed "High Key" will have a true RGB white of 255 and a true black of 000. One of my pet peeves are lazy photographers who blow the whites intentionally, overexposed images won't show a true black. Sometimes despite your best efforts it isn't possible, and then it becomes a matter of which is the lesser of two evils. It's not as easy as it looks, maybe a case of do as I say, not as do. Here's one close, but not quite.
View attachment 169449

Both "High Key" and "Low Key" requires a careful consideration of the clothing worn by the subject. If you're shooting for light and airy, why would you want your subject in darker colors, instead of lighter colors, it's self defeating. The same holds true for the background, stay away from the dark trees and shadows.

Great info, thank you!

I wouldn't say I was "trying" to let anyone dictate my style. I do think I allowed it to happen though, without even thinking about it. I had never heard of the terms high and low key before. I will look into this.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Now you know what happens with 'photographers gone wild' with editing! lol At least you learned from it because we really do learn from mistakes. How did I learn to make sure in the darkroom after focusing and adjusting with the grain scope to make sure that light is turned off before getting out a piece of photo paper and exposing it?? By sliding the paper into the developer and having it go instantly coal black. The instructor said save it, that's your 'black' black. And I learned to always check that from then on.

Fine, go look up high key and low key and try it and experiment and then forget you ever heard of it! lol My personal and completely biased opinion, but I don't know if I've seen it done well or get what people are going for with it. I'd suggest learning how to consistently get properly exposed images. Then maybe you could do other techniques successfully.

 

[ORourkeK]

@vintagesnaps You would say my image SOOC is not exposed properly?

 

[smoke665]

look up high key and low key and try it and experiment and then forget you ever heard of it! lol My personal and completely biased opinion

Agree with you on most things, except this. Just like HDR, soft focus, vignettes, etc. high/low key images have their place in the construction of a composition and are just as important as other elements including exposure. However you need an understanding of when and when not to use them. I do agree that you need a good understanding of what constitutes a good exposure as a basis for understanding how, when and where you can deviate from that.