Problem with shooting in a high key lighting


cws77

New Member
Jun 19, 2011
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I was shooting with the D7000 in high key lighting and the white background came out "hazy" looking
and the contrast of the person and the background was also blurry.

Anyone knows what's the problem or how to solve the problem?

Thanks!
 

NPNT. Post it with EXIF intact.
 

the problematic pics

5957921483_eae4ec5111_z.jpg


5957916671_fd39a74156_z.jpg



Kindly advise!

Thanks!
 

My few cents
The stray lights from some of the strobes is probably shining at the lens causing the loss of contrast.
Usually its the strobes that are flashing in the direction of the camera/lens.
Reposition camera or flash or use a flag.
 

Hi TS, Highkey lighting by definition will produce a bright and low contrast picture consisting of mostly white or middle tones.Of course
not all low contrast scenes are bright it may be dark too.I think placement of subject with relation to your lights affect the outcome,for instance the top photo has a less then white tone at the right side because either the lighting angle is short and does not light up background fully or not set for higher power to reach there.The second photo is much better.Standard setup is two lights at 45 degrees on either side of subject to give even lighting resulting in almost no shadow.Frankly I don't see anything wrong with your output of course you can PP in photoshop to your liking.
 

Last edited:
Thanks all! Was thinking it was the problem with my camera because a few of us was shooting
and only i had the problem. the other people tried to help me for a while but could not solve the
problem also .....so i was thinking I might have unwittingly changed some settings in my camera or
something.
 

The light from the flash is going into the lens. You need to restrict where the flash light goes. Put a piece of black cardboard (go tape/paint it) or something at the side of your flash that is nearest to the camera
 

TS, for high key lighting, there is not enough light on the model. The light on your background is also unbalanced, causing one side of the background to be overexposed and the other side darker.

Your images does not contain EXIF, so I cannot see what your camera settings are, or what metering modes you are actually using. And may I ask what is the aperture you are using?

Here are is a video to show you how to do a high key portrait properly.

[vid]mN-9HlwltXU[/vid]
 

Thanks brapodam and daredevil123.
Not sure how to post image with EXIF, so I list them down

Aperture: F11 to F14
Metering: Pattern
ISO:200
Exposure Bias: 0 step, +0.7 to +1 step
shutter : 1/100 t0 1/200 sec
white balance: auto
Exposure program: manual
Contrast, saturartion, sharpness : normal

Also, would using a lens hood prevent the flash from getting into the flash? (actually,can't remember if i used one ...)

Thanks in advance!
 

Might be color profile that u were using
 

sinned79 said:
why would you want to use a lens hood in indoor environment?

If the model accidentally kicked your tripod, your hood saves the day :)
 

I seldom shoot studio and may not be in the position to comment but here is my explanation;

- That lost of contrast is a mild form of lens flare.
- This is happening because there is a hot-spot/un-even/overly strong background light, contrast between the foreground and background is too big.
- Your lens or filter may be the culpirt. Some lenses are more prone to backlight flare than others. And a lousy filter as well.
- School of thought problem; some people like a heavily blown-out background (explains edge glow along the subject) for high-key shots but in my opinion just do a +2 to +3 stops vs subject so you don't challenge your lens/sensor. Do rmb you can always blow it out in post, though the look is different. If you don't have light meter just take a shot of the white background and check the histogram; all highlights to the verge of over-exposing or just blown (if you shoot raw you can let it over-expose slightly).
 

If the model accidentally kicked your tripod, your hood saves the day :)

dun think any model are that dumb (if u ever shoot in a studio before you will know why i say dumb. The length btw the model and you are usually so apart). and btw, rarely ppl will use a tripod in a studio anyway, i dun see a need to and it also limits your angle of composition too.
 

Last edited:
Thanks brapodam and daredevil123.
Not sure how to post image with EXIF, so I list them down

Aperture: F11 to F14
Metering: Pattern
ISO:200
Exposure Bias: 0 step, +0.7 to +1 step
shutter : 1/100 t0 1/200 sec
white balance: auto
Exposure program: manual
Contrast, saturartion, sharpness : normal

Also, would using a lens hood prevent the flash from getting into the flash? (actually,can't remember if i used one ...)

Thanks in advance!

I think it will be helpful to watch that video I posted and take note of the important points. Especially the part about balancing the light that falls on the model and the light flashing on the background.