Naturally, High Key portraits should be done with a studio lighting and it is good to have at least three light sources, plus reflectors. Photographer for a purpose overexposing most of the objects in a scene, making them look just pure white. Very few shadows can be left on a model’s face.
However, with the mister PhotoShop in charge, we can have the same effect on a regular, normally exposed image. Below I’ll show you how to do
a pseudo High Key photography using Photoshop.
High key portrait created in Photoshop
The original image:
Original portrait Image
1 step
Desaturate image if you like black and white photography:
Image–Adjustment–Desaturate
I like to desaturate it, but not completely, leaving some color:
Image–Adjustment–Hue/Saturation
Adjustment in Photoshop - Hue/Saturation
2 step
Apply unsharp mask:
Filter–Sharping–Unsharp Mask
Using unsharp mask in photoshop
3 step
Make light areas on the image more lighter and dark areas darker using levels.
Play with sliders (do not copy mine) , you’ll you have a different image:
Image–Adjustment–Levels
Using levels for high key photography effect
4 step
Now we will use Dodge tool to make middle areas even more lighter:
Using Dodge tool in Photoshop
step 5
Make image more contrast, if you like:
Image–Adjustment–Levels
The final image should look like this:
High key effect made in Photoshop
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The problem I have with high key light effect is that too often the subject looks too washed out. I never use high key.
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admin Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I do not use this effect quite often too, but it works very well for a maternity and baby portraits.
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