Creating a specific mood with your images is part of the fun, or perhaps one of the key points in conveying your vision to the viewer.

Today, let’s discuss what high-key looks and feels like and a few ways to achieve this look.

First, what mood does high-key convey? Light, airy, refreshing, carefree. Right?

Next, how do we achieve this look? You can shoot on a sunny day. The image above is one example. If you’re going to do this, you want to shoot into the sun (backlighting) so the sky is a little or a lot blown out. Sidelighting also works, as you see in the color image below.

If you’re shooting a white subject, like the examples I’m sharing here, you’ll want to overexpose by a stop or two to further push the high-key look. So, expose for the darker areas of the image. I tend to use spot metering to have greater control of exposure and just choose a shadowy area of the image when I’m aiming for a high-key look.

I often tend to think in black and white with high-key because it further emphasizes this look, but it isn’t absolutely necessary. The subtle blue above or even other lighter colors, which we’ll get to soon, can also feel light and airy. But, I’d avoid any dark or saturated colors as they move away from that light feeling.

The image below is about as saturated as I’d get in regards to something I’d still consider high-key.

Other weather conditions…overcast days work great. The whiteout skies create this nice, even softbox kind of light that definitely helps with a high-key look.

I mentioned the soft, subtle blues working with the high-key look. The other tones I lean into would be peachy golds or browns. Soft greens or even purples could work too, even though I’ve never really explored those colors. Really, anything in the pastel zone.

Let’s talk a little bit about materials. Sometimes I lean into high-key to cover up flaws or dirt on a building, especially on exteriors. Concrete is notorious for showing cracks and dirt. In both of these examples below, one more than the other, the high-key approach really saved me a lot of time in post-processing!

The same can be said for glass and stainless steel.

Combining materials and weather – glassy buildings on overcast days tend to take on these steely gray/blue tones. I’ve certainly emphasized and brightened these colors in the two images below, but don’t shy away from less-than-ideal weather outdoors. Thinking in high-key can make for some interesting results.

Moving indoors, high-key tends to work best with an already white/brighter subject. White walls, arches, a staircase, skylights.

Here, I started with a white staircase and then played around with various white balances. All three still achieve that high-key look, however.

Would love to see your high-key creations so feel free to link in the comments or share on Instagram or in the Facebook group!