What does it mean? It seems to mean white or bright or even washed out. Could someone exp..."> What does it mean? It seems to mean white or bright or even washed out. Could someone exp..."/>
Mary N C. Taitt |
What does High Key Mean I'm confused about the meaning of the term "High Key." What does it mean? It seems to mean white or bright or even washed out. Could someone explain? I'd appreciate some elucidation. I see it referred to a lot but not explained. Thank you. Mary :-)
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Todd Bennett |
Mary, Try this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_key Todd
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Michael H. Cothran |
In a nutshell, hi-key simply means that the majority of tones in your image are above a mid-tone. Most everything is very light in color and tonality. White-on-white is a popular example. On the opposite end is low-key. Most tones are darker than mid-tone. Black-on-black is popular. Hi-key tends to evoke happy, carefree images. Low-key is more dramatic in nature. For portraiture, it's a matter of taste. I usually prefer the look of low key rather than hi-key, as it tends to draw more attention to the face. I believe, in general, and unknowingly, people are drawn more to low-key images than to hi-key. Michael H. Cothran
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Bob Chance |
An example of a portrait in high-key would be a blonde model, though not neccessarily, wearing white or very light pastel colors and an all white backgound. Very bright, but not washed out. Although it's a matter of taste, like Michael said, I tend to disagree with him. I find that high-key actually tends to draw more attention to the face as it is the only thing in the shot of a mid-tone range. Everything else is very bright.
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Nobu Nagase |
Hi-key: happy and bright Low-key: moody, mystical, and sometimes awe-inspiring My preference is the latter.
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Paul Tobeck |
In my opinion, the best high key shots look a little on the ghostly side, or angelic if you will. I have to say, though, I prefer the low key shots in B&W with an emphasis on the eyes of the subject. Very dramatic and powerful.
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Margie Hurwich |
Mary, I always wondered the same thing!
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Nobu Nagase |
IMO, this is an example of using the low-key subject with the hi-key background to stress the contrast. I just looked at BP and found the follwoing two galleries featuring some photos in each category: High Key photos: Low Key photos:
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Nobu Nagase |
I don't know if you received responses you are hoping for but I know mine wasn't helpful... But I wanted to draw your attention to the digital work my friend, Lj, does in hi-key mode. In my opinion, her digital work is one of the best and you may see the motivation for doing something in hi-key. Take a look at a couple of links to her images:
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