Using High Key vs Low Key Lights

On this short video Daniel Norton from Adorama demonstrates the differences between high key and low key lights when shooting in a studio.

Many people think that high key lighting involves lots of light and a white background and although this might be true for most cases what Norton explains in this video is that high key actually refers to very low contrast image (so no shadows or almost no shadows at least). Low key lighting as you might expect has a lot more contrast and is typically used to add drama to your images or videos.

Technically speaking – high key will usually require more lights than low key images or videos which are also considered a bit more simpler to achieve technically (although both are very fundamental for any portrait photographer or videographer.

This is not the first time that we have looked at low and high key lighting. Photographer , Mark Wallace did  a more extensive video on shooting high/low key images and if you are looking for a tutorial this will be a great place to start.

You can check out many more helpful photography tips on our Photography tips section here on LensVid. You can check out Norton’s previous videos on this link here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.

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