How To Produce A High Key Effect For Digital Photography
By Jacob Grant
11 May 2008
Oh, sure there are computer programs that with the simple click of a button allow you to produce a high key photo effect, but if you're like me, one of the things that bugs you about some digital photography editing programs is all the presets. I like having total control of my digital photo projects - glow levels, blur amounts, shadows, highlights, etc.
Here's a simple, easy to handle trick that can be reproduced in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Photo Studio, or any other advanced photo editing program, providing you understand your photo editing software enough to gather the gist of the steps outlined below.
High key works good mainly with portraits. In essence, a high key photograph intentionally overexposes, or blasts out, the highlights of the picture, while leaving the subject's gaze and other features dark. It can also be used to smooth/soften a subject's skin, make the picture glow, and create other eye-popping effects.
First, import your picture into your photo editor and convert it to black and white. (See figure 1 at right.) Then enhance the levels or brightness of the photograph until you just start to lose details in the detailed areas of the portrait - fingers, hair, mouth, eyes, etc. (See figure 2.) Then copy and paste the picture over itself so you produce two layers of the same photograph. Apply a blur effect - gaussian blur works best - to the top layer and blur it 10 to 20 percent. Then set the top layer's opacity or visibility level to about 80 percent - you want the bottom layer to show through just a bit.
Now here's where the magic begins to happen. Take your eraser tool and set its opacity or pressure to about 20 percent - also make sure its edges are feathered and that it's a good size - and begin to erase the areas of the top layer that cover the eyes, mouth, ears, fingers, hair, or any other details of the portrait you want to add clarity to. Then apply your eraser tool again, but this time at 50 percent and at a smaller size. Begin to erase over the important details only - eyes, nose, mouth. The point of this is to slowly reveal the clarity of the bottom layer by erasing in smaller and smaller segments important details of the top layer. Continue to do this until the important details of the bottom layer are 100 percent clear. (See figure 3.) Notice how everything is kind of blurry and glowing except for the important details of the subject.
Merge the two layers.
Lastly, using either your brightness and contrast settings or burn or darken tool, begin to darken all of the shadows in the photograph until the darkest shadows are nearly black. (See figure 4.)
I have produced satisfactory results with this effect on photos of varying quality - the picture of the dog was underexposed, the girl with the teddy bear was overexposed.
The amounts at which you apply any of these effects depends much upon your personal taste. Maybe the 80 percent opacity level on the second layer isn't enough for you; maybe you don't want the second layer at all; maybe the blur effect should be two times more. Play around with it, but most importantly, have fun!
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