Who created the Photoshop "high key" effect, and can I kill them?

[jreades]

<p>I've run across a large number of "high key" portraits on photo.net

where the keying was done in Photoshop rather than using actual

lighting. For a while, I was actually under the impression that this

was solely a photoshop thing, but I now realise that it's just that

the result was so different from traditionally well-done keying

effects that I didn't realise this was even the same 'technique'.</p>

 

<p>I'd like to thank Maria Dawn for a definition <a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000N3V">found

on photo.net</a>:</p>

<ul>

<li>High Key

<ul>

<li>Contains tones ranging from white to 18% grey - Creates a 'light

and bright' final image

<li>Often conveys a youthful, open, and happy mood.

<li>Mostly used to reduce contrast in the model's skin reducing

visible blemishes and wrinkles.

<li>Good high key photographs maintain edge separation between the

subject and the white background.

<li>Makes use a front lighting, careful not create a image that is too

flat it becomes formless

<li>Lighting ratio is usually less than 3:1

</ul>

<li>Low Key

<ul>

<li>Contains tones ranging from 18% grey to black

<li>Often conveys a more serious, formal, dignified mood.

<li>Mostly used to show the character, or personality of the model by

emphasizing shape, texture, and making use of 'mood' lighting

<li>Good low key maintains detail in the blackest shadow area.

<li>Lighting requires more side and back lighting, to produce large

shadow areas.

<li>Makes good use of gobos, barn doors, or other light focusing devises.

<li>Careful use of fill lights is necessary to maintain low-key mood

while filling the shadows just enough to give detail.

</ul>

</ul>

 

<p>And I can only thank <a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006C1L">Mike

Scarpitti</a> for helping me to realise that this technique isn't

universally reprehensible (as is <a

href="http://www.lafterhall.com/hurrell.html">amply shown here</a>).</p>

 

<p>So my question is this, who can I blame for the abundance of bad

portraits where keying was done in Photoshop? Can we please have a

tutorial on <i>both</i> the analogue (lighting) and digital (photoshop

retouching) versions of this technique (and their relative merits and

results) from someone who knows what they are doing? I suck at

portraits myself, I just don't want to have to look at all the bad

ones in the critique queue without being able to point to a

constructive counter-example of <i>good</i> keying.</p>

 

<hr>

 

<p>P.S. I realise the 'kill' might be a bit strong for what this

'inventor' merits, so I'd settle for bludgeoning them repeatedly with

a balloon animal and a stack of high-key baby portraits.</p>

[mike dixon]

While a few of Hurrell's images are close to "low key," I didn't see any on the linked page that were "high key." His images are high-contrast.<P>

<a href="http://mikedixonphotography.com/sarahbw04.jpg">This</a> is an example of low key (or close to it). <a href="http://mikedixonphotography.com/sarahybw01.jpg">This</a> is about at close to high key as I've got, and the contrast in it is a little high for a straight-up high key shot.

[marshall]

I'm no expert on this stuff, but I thought that low and high-key meant that there were a preponderance of tones on that side of the scale, but that there would also be at least some amount of tones completing the full range. Thus, high-key would be mostly high tones, but that there would be some near-black tones as well. That's bot a complete definition, to be sure, because that could simply be accomplished with high contrast applied to some images, but perhaps someone can help reconcile the thoughts.

[basscheffers]

The problem is this guy probably did some things right as well, so if you were to kill him, those things could get lost too.

 

Everyone's pet peeve about Netscape of the old days, the blink tag, was actualy created by the same guy that gave us cookies and made personalised sites like these possible without having to log in every time you came back...

[joseph_wisniewski]

Marshall is right, a good portrait contains a full tone range. Even a high key portrait has black pupils in the eyes, black eyelashes, etc.