How to Understand High Key vs Low Key Lighting

High key lighting and Low key lighting

High key lighting is warm, flattering lighting. Low key lighting is cool, flattering lighting. Which lighting works best for you?

High Key lighting works best for most women. Low key lighting is cool, flattering lighting. Low key lighting will also work for men. For both sexes high key lighting gives a warm, flattering glow.

Lighting is a critical aspect of photography, particularly for portraits. You need to have the right light to achieve the best effect and create flattering images.

To understand what different types of lighting look like, it helps to consider the colors of different lights.

Bright white lights are called ‘high key’. These lights have a warm, orange or yellow cast to them. They are ideal for photographs of people, for example, children or babies, as the light tends to highlight the features and make the subject look bright and vibrant.

Soft or ‘low key’ lighting is cooler. It gives a soft, yellowy or bluish glow. The low key light tends to flatter and bring out the details in faces.

A third type of lighting is also available – ‘mixed key’. This is a combination of the two above. It is like a high key light, with some soft areas of the image highlighted.

The choice of which type of lighting you use will depend on what you are photographing.

When photographing children, a high key light is usually best. This can be tricky if they are wearing dark clothes or their eyes are closed, but it is worth the effort to get the best result.

A low key lighting can be used on adults, although it does tend to emphasize large parts of the face. If you are photographing a child it is generally better to use the high key light, as it brings out the features and highlights their expressions.

When photographing weddings, it is a good idea to use a mixture of both high key and low key lighting. It will be easier to capture the emotion of the wedding by using the low key light.

The key to choosing the right lighting is to experiment with different types until you find one that works for you.