Kathy Eyster's Blog

High and Low Key Grasses in Vase One way to learn about exposure as a creative choice is to photograph the same subject as high key, meaning very bright without losing detail, and as low key, meaning very dark without losing detail. This usually requires creating a bright white background for high key and a dark black background for low key. Sometimes accessories, such as clothing, need to be changed to fit the "key" of the photograph. In the examples above, the clear glass carafe worked well with both backgrounds because they showed through the glass. The camera wants to make both scenes "average," meaning halfway between white and black or gray. But this is likely to be visually unsatisfying. So high key requires over exposing in the camera and low key requires under exposing. Creating high and low key pictures of the same subject is one of the topics in Photography Challenge #8 . The class begins November 4, 2026 , at the Lifelong Learning Center in Missoula, Mo...