In other words, a high contrast photo isn’t a high key photo. If you also bump up the contrast on top of that, adding pure white or dark pixels, it will be a high contrast image. If you add dark pixels in the photo, it won’t be a high key photo anymore if you hold on to the strict definition. This way the image will have a very fragile look, often without a clear sense of depth due to the lack of contrast. There are only pixels present that are brighter than 50% gray. Now we know that a high key has only a limited amount of tonal values. The Difference Between High Key and High Contrast It is clear my opinion was wrong about these kinds of images. After all, both photos contain pixels that are on the opposite of the tonal range. If this strict definition is used, both the photos I found in my archives are not real high key or low key. Not a single pixel is allowed to pass the 50% gray value. Some people require every single pixel to be dark in case of a low key image, and light in case of a high key image. If the term high key or low key can be used depends on how strict we hold on to the definition. The two photos from this article with the corresponding histogram. With every pixel located on the right side, the image is called high key. When every pixel of the image is located at the left side, the image will be dark and it's called low key. We know the middle of the histogram has a tonal value of 50% gray. It is easy to translate the definition to the histogram. But that is not what this article is about, although you may find a lot of similarities. High key and low key is also used in the film industry, where it is related to the use of key lights. High key is used when the tonal values are mainly in the brightest part of the tonal range. If you look at the name, the common term is the word "key." This is the name that is used when the average tonal value of an image falls in the extreme values of the tonal range. If the tonal values are mainly dark, it is called low key. The first time the terms high key and low key were used is somewhere in the beginning of the 20th century. Definition of High Key and Low Key PhotographyĪre high key and low key special techniques, or just overexposure and underexposure? Or is it something completely different? I did some research to find out. I shot this photo of my son in 2008 also.
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