High Key Imaging

[Benji]

High Key photography has been around for years, and if you peruse the 'net you will find lots of images that are called high key but they are not. Answers.com uses the following definition for high key lighting; "In photography, lighting that produces tones that fall mostly between white and gray, with very few dark-gray or black tones." In the digital age this translates to all tones in the image will be above 128 with the exception of [a] few black tones. These few could be for example the pupils of the subject's eyes in a portrait. This would not include a subject wearing black slacks posed on an all white background.

The quintessential high key portrait image is a bride in a white gown on a white background. In my first image below everything falls above 128 except for her pupils, the green leaves of her bouquet, and the shadow on the left side of her face. The second image is a true high key image.

If you type in high key photography into any search engine you will find lots of photographers calling high contrast images high key, and overexposed images being called high key, but these are not true traditional high key images. I have posted examples of these images below.

You don't have to put more light onto the background than what is on the subject (my high key bride's background was lit by spill from the main and one small background light) but for a pure white background you will need to.

The question is, how much light is required to make a background pure white and how is it done? There are numerous ways. Most photographers start with a white background and put one or more lights onto it to overexpose it (overexposed when compared to the exposure used on the subject.) If you are shooting a head and shoulders image you will not need as elaborate a lighting system when compared to what is used for a full length image. For a head and shoulders high key background simply place a flash unit behind the subject aimed at the (white) background and make sure it meters 2/3rds of a stop more than the shooting aperture and the correct exposure for the subject's skin. Obviously in any type of portraiture (except high contrast) the aperture of the camera must match the meter reading of the main light, otherwise you will wind up with an overexposed subject.

Here is how I do my high key images. My high key camera room has a white ceiling and black walls. The black walls prevent my background light(s) from striking them and bouncing light off of them and affecting my fill light exposure, and also the shadows on my subject. Some light does bounce off of the ceiling so I use it as my hair light. My fill light reading with the fill and background lights both on is F 5, and my main light reads F 8 (with the dome pointed toward the main light only.) My background lights read F 10 at the subject. I take ALL meter readings at the subject, so for my background light reading I place the dome of the meter right beside the cheek of the subject aimed at the background and I take my reading. I don't really care what the reading is on the background I only care what it is beside the subject. It must be between 2/3rds of a stop to one stop brighter than what the main light reading is. If you put two or three stops more light onto the background than what is needed you will get ghosting on the edges of the subject. So with the main light reading at F 8 and the camera aperture set at F 8 (for properly exposed skin) and the background light metering at F 10 (2/3rds of a stop more than the main light reading) the background will be overexposed (255) which is white no detail. The difference between F 8 and F 10 is 2/3rds of a stop.

Benji

[Benji]

This is an overexposed high key image. What makes it a high key image is the white background and pink and white clothing, NOT the overexposure.

[Benji]

Another high key image. Note that all of her clothing is white, even down to her shoes and the prop is white.

I lit the background seperately on this image.

Benji

[Benji]

Here is a shot of my high key camera room. It is 16 feet wide by 20 feet long. The linoleum is 13 x 14. Note the background lights don't illuminate the front five or six feet of the floor. This is where I pose the subject. The main light is then feathered toward the front of the subject and the hot spot of the main light carries on the overexposure started by the background lights so the area in front of the subject is also pure white. Sometimes (especially if the subject is large) I will need to, in Photoshop, lightly dodge the area in front of the subject to maintain whiteness in that area. Note that the left wall is painted black. I have a roll of black seamless on the wall at right. I can roll it up and use that wall as a white background with the subject leaning against it and not overexpose her hair like it would if I leaned her against the back wall. I can also roll it up 1/2 way and allow the bounced background light to act as a kicker light on that side.

Benji

[Benji]

Here is a shot of the three flash units aimed up into a 16 x 2 x 2 foot rectangular hole in the ceiling. I lined it with aluminum foil. I laid down on my back and shot straight up to get this shot. The white area at the bottom is the ceiling and the top is the background (linoleum glued backwards on the wall and floor and painted white with latex house paint.)

Benji

[Benji]

Here is another view of the flash units. I stood back about six feet and shot upwards. The area at the bottom is the back wall, the top area is the ceiling.

Benji

[Benji]

This image is not a true high key image even though the background is white and her clothing is pastel because the prop is black and the shadows are fairly dark.
Benji

[Benji]

Here is what a pure white background looks like if there is no additional light added to it. This is the exact background as the image above, except the background lights were not turned on.

Benji

[Benji]

This is a high contrast black and white image.

Benji

[peterst6906]

Thanks Benji,

Typical of your style of tutorial - clear, concise, with all the information needed to understand it; and well written.

Nice shots of your flash setup for the background too.

Regards,

Peter

[Mr. Pickles]

Very nice and a big thanks to you, Benji. A lot of good info in this whole thread.

Hope everyone reads it with an open mind and understands that while this is an excellent way to shoot this type of image, it isn't a fixed idea. Lots of ways to skin this cat and you can tweak here and there as required.

[aam1234]

Super!

Thank you very much, Sir.

[alive1]

Great idea placing lights in the ceiling alcove. It seems as though you would have considerable fall off by the time the light would strike the floor but your photo's don't show any. Do you assist the background lighting with other strobes? Really appreciate your tutorials and your photography is truly outstanding. Thank you!

[MagicNikon]

Very nice. Thanks Benji.

[KingEnigma]

Very explanatory and detailed. Thanks

[Benji]

Originally Posted by alive1

It seems as though you would have considerable fall off by the time the light would strike the floor but your photo's don't show any. Do you assist the background lighting with other strobes?

Alive1,

The only "additional" lighting I use is to feather the main light forward. That way the umbra of the main light strikes the floor ahead of the subject and lightens the shadow cast by the background lights. If it is slightly grey (as it is sometimes) I dodge it a little in Photoshop.

One thing I didn't mention above is that I nearly always pose the subject so the shadow side of their face is on the left side of my camera room. The left side is the side I painted black. If I think I'm going to get a dark shadow in front of the subject (because the subject is dressed in dark clothing, has numerous props, or is a large subject, all of which block the background light) I will then raise the black paper on the right wall which will allow the light to bounce off of it (because it is white behind the paper) and assist the main light in filling in the shadows on the floor.

Benji

[harryd]

Great job Benji! I LOVE your tutorials.

[angelsfort]

Thank You Benji! I look forward to trying this!

[Bill Giles]

I appreciate your explanation of high key and that a white background does not make an image high key.

I also appreciate your sharing your background lighting setup. Well done.

Thanks.

Bill

[bobbyz]

Benji,

You say " My background lights read F 10 at the subject. I take ALL meter readings at the subject, so for my background light reading I place the dome of the meter right beside the cheek of the subject aimed at the background and I take my reading."

I tried that where my main was at f8, and bg as measured at my subject with the dome (recessed) pointing towards the bg was at f10. But that settings gave me horrible flare on my subject. Subject was 6 feet away from the bg and bg light was behind the subject, half way between subject and white seemless bg. I had to crank my bg light way down to get good exposure on the subject and still keep white on the bg.

I don't understand why it has to be f10 at the subject pointing towards the bg and don't care of what's actually falling on the bg? Suppose I increase the bg to subject distance. Now I will have to increase output of my bg light to get f10 on the subject. That will throw more light on the bg than what's needed to make it white but now totally over blown, isn't it? Just trying to learn.