Appropriate High Key?

WingsOfLovePhoto

Please can you tell me....Is this photo appropriate as a high key portrait? Trying to get the hang of one lighting scenario at a time. This seemed the easiest to start with. Thanks in advance for any responses...:D

Elaine

What an adorable little guy! I think the lighting looks good...nice catchlights! I especially like the first shot. They are nice and sharp and clear. In the bottom corners of number one, perhaps some cloning would clean up the bits of fabric (?) that are showing. I love the old pick-up in 2! I'd be curious to see it without selective color as his clothing colors would go well with the red, I think.

lsro

not really
The pictures look to me as normal with white background, not high key. From the point of view of exposure and focus they look very good just not high key.
There are plenty of examples on the net about high key, I picked just one: http://www.diyphotography.net/lighting-high-key-and-low-key
The rose in the middle is an example of high key photo.

WingsOfLovePhoto

Elaine wrote:

What an adorable little guy! I think the lighting looks good...nice catchlights! I especially like the first shot. They are nice and sharp and clear. In the bottom corners of number one, perhaps some cloning would clean up the bits of fabric (?) that are showing. I love the old pick-up in 2! I'd be curious to see it without selective color as his clothing colors would go well with the red, I think.

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions. You can see the rest of the set here http://wingsoflove.smugmug.com/gallery/7011291_MMjHp if you want to see the truck one in color. He just turned 2 so it was a challenge getting him to sit still thus all the proppy things! Thanks again....

kdspencer

Hi Sandy,

Great shots! You did a wonderful job capturing Aiden.

I just took a look at the pics on your site, and I like the truck photo with full color better than the selective b/w one. Just my opinion.

Would you mind describing what your studio and lighting set up is? I like the lighting, and I'm wondering how many strobes you have, where they're placed, as well as whether you used a seamless paper background?

Thanks!

WingsOfLovePhoto

kdspencer wrote:

Hi Sandy,

Great shots! You did a wonderful job capturing Aiden.

I just took a look at the pics on your site, and I like the truck photo with full color better than the selective b/w one. Just my opinion.

Would you mind describing what your studio and lighting set up is? I like the lighting, and I'm wondering how many strobes you have, where they're placed, as well as whether you used a seamless paper background?

Thanks!

Hummm, thanks for the compliments and your feedback but I find it funny that you want to know my lighting! I struggle with it all so much and usually that is the downside to my photos as per people who have critiqued them! but here goes...still working out the kinks....

For those photos I used one 3x4ft softbox with a white lighting strobe camera right at about a 30degree angle. I have a 2x3 ft rigid silver reflector camera left at about 30degree angle. I have a sturdy white background material I bought at the fabric store that really needs to be wider but with just one single child I usually can fit them in the middle of it. I have the child about 4 feet from the background and have another strobe that flashes strictly as a background light. It has a strip light softbox 18x36 on it. I am working on this part of it because there seems to be hot and cold spots on the background that I sometimes have to patch out in photoshop. Other than those 2 lights I have a clip lamp over the background that shines forward I kind of use as a hair light? I usually brighten the background some more in pp by using curves. I am working on getting a better set up but this is working for me at the moment because most of my clients like the clean white background or I shoot outside in the better weather. I will be getting a low to mid key background and try my hand at that. Thanks again!

Hackbone

You did a great job with the lighting. Did you try to raise you black point up just a bit in photoshop to give it alittle more pop. His parents will love them.