I really have no idea how to tell high key from over exposed. If this is not high key, can it be made so or is it the wrong subject for high key? Happy Birthday Grandma (RIP 46 years, but not forgotten).
I research......."High key photography is a style of photography that uses unusually bright lighting to reduce or completely blow out dark shadows in the image. High key shots usually lack dark tones and the high key look is generally thought of as positive and upbeat." Good to know
Thanks for your question Debbie. It was so interesting to read all the responses. I didn't know either. A bit of a Google did add one idea which made sense to me - apparently there should be little contrast present. That seems to agree with what everybody said and explain Casablancas comment too. This was so good to figure out. Thanks for posting it Cheers Rob
I generally go by how much light is filling the picture- and not so much by contrast. This shot would be a good case in point- you can't really make the difference between the green leaves and white background disappear- the color is just too "dark". But there certainly is plenty of light filling this picture so I would call it high key (maybe on the low end of the spectrum, since you could blow it out even more if you wanted to). Good shot!
