High Key and Low Key Lighting

In this task, I will be researching on high key and low key lighting in detail. I will also be looking at the different moods and atmosphere these techniques create and compare the advantages between the two. The diagram/image above shows the difference between high key and low key. There is immediately a huge difference between the two but the main difference between the two is light and dark.

High key is a bright, clean light that is commonly used commercially based. As it is a soft light, it usually doesn't have too much shadows nor it's punched with contrast. It usually blends the subject with the background with high exposures, but not too high where the image overexposes and you lose details. High key lighting is a good lighting set up to shoot portraits because the light isn't harsh and it can enhance beauty with the soft light. I've mentioned that it's used commercially and it's very popular within fashion photography that is usually published for magazines. High key lighting creates multiple moods in my opinion. The obvious mood/atmosphere is a positive/neutral feeling. When it comes to fashion, it helps to promote that clothing or lifestyle if it's shot well with vibrant colours.

On the other hand, low key lighting is the opposite. It is usually used to promote drama or tension in the images. In the modern fashion world, it is commonly used to promote our youth with urban/street wear. These images are dark with direct harsh lighting on the subject, with a punch of contrast and shadows. I think it makes the image very distinctive and it can really help you focus on a specific subject by having the light closer to that specific part. I think low key lighting is good for serious looking images with appropriate facial expressions to portray a certain emotion. In the fashion world, I think it suits the teenage age group more than it would suit the public overall. To a certain extent, you can use low key lighting to give the image a retro look or make it look old/aged with high contrast just like historical photographers used.

Personally, I would like to try both and see what I prefer. I think they both have advantages but I'm more leaning towards low key lighting because I think it has many more controls and there's more possibilities where you can create different outcomes. However, my impression of high key lighting is that we are used to seeing it everywhere in different types of media.

Here are some further examples:

The left image here is a high key style, and you can see that it's a brighter image in comparison to the right photo. The model's face is fully exposed and there's a equal, neutral grey background. There's not many shadows and you can see the significant with the right image. The right image is a low key image and it's very high in contrast. You can see how both these images differ with the blacks, there's no dark spots in the high key image. The low key image reveals half a face which makes it look very mysterious and gloomy. His facial expression is a lot more serious compared to the left image.