Flash of Red 1 by olivetreeann

Flash of Red 1

This week for flash of red we had the option of shooting high key or low key using the exposure balance. I've always enjoyed high key so that's what I'll be doing! Here's day 1- a shot of a little doo-dad that sits on the windowsill by my kitchen sink. It was interesting to see how the in-camera settings took out the darker areas and turned them to gray. I usually do high-key in post processing and it comes out with a completely different feel.
nice doo-dad. i'm also doing high key this week. the problem with a cranked up ISO is the noise and it's stark where there are gray tones. why not set your camera on your tripod, adjust your exposure comp or have a longer exposure, 1.5 sec would usually do it with a much lower ISO.

thanks for organizing this challenge. i can't believe this is the fifth year. remember in 2012, we started it as a lark to shoot black and white for a whole month? who knew it would catch on!
February 2nd, 2017  
This is wonderful! I think it's actually a stronger example of high key than the high contrast one in the discussion thread. Great light tones that disappear into the white background.
February 2nd, 2017  
Very pretty! Looks fabulous as a high key.
February 2nd, 2017  
Very nicely done, Ann.
February 2nd, 2017  
Well done. I need to learn how to do this.
February 2nd, 2017  
Fabulous capture
February 2nd, 2017  
This is really effective. Plus it would make a sweet background for a poem or other text.
February 2nd, 2017  
Lovely high key, nice doo-dad :)
February 2nd, 2017  
Excellent high key.
February 2nd, 2017  
Lovely shot and composition- fav
February 2nd, 2017  
Oh I love this high key, and composition Ann!
February 2nd, 2017  
Very nice mono shot. Love the high key.
February 2nd, 2017  
really nice.
February 2nd, 2017  
Great composition on this.
February 2nd, 2017  
Very eye catching. Love the composition.
February 2nd, 2017  
Beautiful composition.
February 2nd, 2017  
Beautiful high key!
February 2nd, 2017  
Very well done which is not unusual for you. I like the subject in the composition very much
February 2nd, 2017  
Great high key.
February 3rd, 2017  
Pretty BW shot. It is interesting to see how the camera and the processing treat the BW tones. Great composition!
February 3rd, 2017  
@summerfield Thanks Vikki! After today's shot I was thinking I was going to back to my "old way" of doing high-key (post processing), but I will try your suggestion tomorrow before I do that. I was really surprised to discover we'd hit the 5 year mark with this one. It really seems like it was only a year or two! And when we started, it was just the "challenge buddies" who participated. This year there are 74 people!

@taffy Thank you Taffy! Especially for the feedback. I confess- I was in a rush and just pulled the first shot I saw off my calendar. It really was more of a high-contrast shot, but I did better with this week's example. It's hard for me to decide on my own shots. Anyone else, it's a snap!

@kwind @aikimomm @leananiemand @salza @pandorasecho @sjodell @onewing @lyndamcg @radiogirl @sangwann @francoise @henrir @allie912 @claudiet @homeschoolmom @grammyn

And thank you Kim, Phoebe, Leana, Sally, Dixie, Sarah, Babs, Lynda, Kathy, Dione, Francoise, Henri, Allison, Claude, Lisa and Katy for all the views, comments and favs. You are generous and kind!!

@leananiemand The book we are reading along with the challenge doesn't really go into details on the "how to" but if you read Vikki's comment to me, you'll learn of one way to do it. Most of the time I accomplish high key in post-processing. But this author recommended doing it "in-camera" by adjusting the exposure compensation to + for high-key and - for low key. I like to make my high key shots high in contrast too, but when you do it "in-camera" there is really no "dark" area. Instead there is a lot of gray.
February 3rd, 2017  
Great high key
February 3rd, 2017  
Nice one. I too wish he had included a little more how-to. Today I did several photos using the exposure compensation. I did use ISO 400 as he suggested (you mentioned this in your discussion of the theme.) I did learn something the other night at photo club. I don't know if it works for DSLR's but it does for my mirrorless (and others, too apparently). I set my camera for RAW & JPEGs. Then I set my creative settings to black and white. So if I take a photo, I automatically get and B&W jpeg and a color Raw. The latter I can tweak to my heart's content, even make a better b&w if I want to in post-processing.
February 3rd, 2017  
This is great Ann, enjoy your Flash of Red month, I look forward to seeing your photos
February 3rd, 2017  
Very nice decor
February 3rd, 2017  
@la_photographic Thank you Laura!
@daisymiller Thank you Daisy!
@twinsplusone Thank you Sharon!
@randystreat Thanks Kathy! And thanks for the info too. I have not tried setting the camera to black and white ahead of time. I've always been told it's better to shoot in color and convert. I'll have to fiddle around with it and see what happens.
@nicolecampbell Thanks Nicole!
@bkbinthecity Thank you Brian!
February 3rd, 2017  
Ann, if you are able to shoot Raw as well as jpeg then setting the camera to a black and white mode will give you a good idea of how the picture will look. You then still have a full colour version to work with if you don't like how the camers has processed it. Personally I prefer to convert in post processing as you have much more control.
February 3rd, 2017  
@salza I agree- that's how I usually do it. But this is about experimenting so at least for this week I'll do it his way. I have tried the RAW and jpg setting in my Powershot and was lukewarm about the results, so in the end I set the camera back on jpg and then convert in the post processing. Thanks Sally!
February 4th, 2017  
This looks beautiful. But now I'm confused as to what low key looks like.
February 4th, 2017  
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