studio lighting techniques

              Low Key             High Key

Studio Lighting Techniques

Both High Key images and Low Key images make an intensive use of contrast, but in a very different way. When approaching a shoot of a dramatic portrait, the decision of making it a High Key, Low Key or “just” a regular image has great impact about the mood that this picture will convey. While High Key images are considered happy and will show your subject as a tooth-paste poster; Low Key portraits are dramatic and convey a lot of atmosphere and tension.

Low Key Lighting is often used for photographing television or film. Low lighting uses only one key light and is controlled using reflectors. To create this effect it requires very little natural lighting, using only one light (softbox) I find that it creates a dramatic and powerful finish, as it exaggerates shadows. This type of lighting is frequently used in film noir and horror genres. 



Rick Nunn is a photographer that experiments with many different techniques, but a technique I particularly liked was his images taken using low-key lighting, I think that the images are powerful and bold.

High Key lighting is often used for photographing upbeat subjects such as for sitcoms and comedies. To create this effect you would usually use three point lighting to free the image from dark shadows. I find that this makes the photograph give of a positive feeling for the 
viewer. For high key lighting two foreground lights are faced towards the subject/background, and are generally soft-boxes so that the light spreads out evenly giving the image a clean finish.

Jack devlin working with using high-key lighting to make a idealistic, positive image for the viewer. 

  

A soft box is used to diffuse the light or to bounce the light of a bulb (the light) Soft boxes work by confining the light from a lamp into a closed chamber and releasing it through at least one layer of diffusion material. As the light passes through the translucent fabric it scatters, producing a very even and soft result. 

Beauty Dish

A beauty dish is a reflective lighting device that distributes light toward a focal point. It helps to create more contrast in an image. A beauty dish is bigger and creates softer light than an ordinary reflector. 

Snoot

A snoot is a tube that fits over a studio light or portable flash and allows the photographer to control the direction and radius of the light beam. A snoot helps to stop light spill and therefore isolate a subject when flash is used.

A reflector is a reflective surface that is used when transmitting light onto the subject.

Hard light cast shadows creating sharp contrast. Hard light comes from a direct single-point source of light. It is not interrupted, reflected or diffused in any way and falls directly on the subject. This light source causes the hard shadow-line. In a blackened room, one light bulb will cause this hard-light effect. The hardness of the shadow-lines is unaffected by the brightness of the light.

Soft light is not dim light but light that gradually changes from dark to light areas, to ensure there are no harsh or sharply defined shadow lines. Hard, sharp shadow-lines are not flattering in many different types of photographs; especially where people are in the shot. Our eyes are naturally tuned to a softened, rounded shape, especially in the human face. So where we encounter hard light our eyes next seek out the softer, easier light to help us interpret shape and form. 

                Hard light                             Soft light

Ambient lighting is natural light, from a natural source, such as sun light. 

Flash light is known as artificial lighting, using lights like a softbox, snoot etc. this includes the flash that is built into current electronic cameras.