Work Diary - High Key Lighting

Evaluation

For this shoot, we worked as a class with two separate shoots going on at the same time, high key lighting and slow sync flash. The camera was set to F16, ISO 200 and a shutter speed of 1/125. For the high key lighting shoot, we used a white background, and positioned 2 lights behind polystyrene walls, and reflected them onto the background, and the other two lights were reflecting on the subject. This is so we get a complete white background, with softer shadows so there are no harsh dark areas. I used a model for this shoot, and made sure I used the entire frame when shooting. I also took landscape and portrait images, as well as shot just the models face, and some included their shoulders/torso. The photos I produced were bright, and when we increased the exposure they were even brighter - however I didn't like the effect this had, as it lightened the models face too much. This is a lighting diagram of the set up:

This is one of the best images I took during the shoot, as I have filled the frame as much as I can and have also centered the model. I like that this technique brightens the white background, as it increases the colours of the model such as their hair and clothes. This makes the model stand out more. This technique would be especially good to use for portraiture, fashion and beauty shoots as it enhances colour and focuses the attention on the model as the background is completely blanked out. 

This is one of the images I took after increasing the exposure on my camera, after editing, I like this photo a bit more. However the over exposure has caused the models skin to look yellowish, which isn't a very good effect, particularly if shooting for portraiture/fashion/beauty as the model would want to look their best. However, this effect does increase the brightness of the background even more than the photo above, which makes the model's less noticeable features stand out more such as their eyes.

Progression 

I'd like to use this feature in my personal project for portraiture, as it enhances the features of the model, but also makes their face look softer and more natural, particularly as it counteracts the harsh shadows which could appear if the lights weren't positioned to reflect on to the background. I would also like to experiment with the increased exposure, as I would like to know what sort of photography it would be good to use for, as when using it to shoot people, it washes them out.