High Key- Techniques Page

The idea for a high key shoot is to separate the subject from their background, producing a crisp image of the person. The image above gives some clear indications as to how different lights and boards can be used to achieve this. The lights in front of the subject are used to light their face, while the boards also allow for the light to bounce off onto the back and side of the subject. The lights in the back of the image are set up to light the background by bouncing the light off of the board; some lights can just face the background directly in order to light it. The result causes the subject and background to be lighted independently from one another. The white background used within the image should become brighter as a result, causing the image to remain clearer and the contrast between background and subject more crisp. The face should appear well lit, allowing for the skin to appear smooth but not too bright as the indirect light within the image will create a soft, even light to the image. The light readings for the background would be set at f11 while the subject was f16. This would ensure that the background would remain independent from the subject, creating an all white background effect. I would use a shutter speed of 1/125, an f stop of 16 and an ISO of 200. These settings are crucial to ensure that a lower amount of light goes through the lens to cause the image to not appear over exposed. The f stop of 16 would allow a controlled amount of light to go into the lens in order to ensure that the image was not over exposed.

This is an example of what can be achieved within this technique.