High-key photography is a powerful way to create bright, dreamy landscape images with minimal shadows and a soft, low-contrast feel. Winter is the perfect season to experiment with this style, as snowy scenes and overcast skies provide a natural foundation for high-key aesthetics.
Coming to you from Christian Möhrle - The Phlog Photography, this helpful video explains the fundamentals of high-key photography. It starts with a breakdown of what makes an image high-key: bright tones, minimal shadows, and a clean, harmonious look. These elements work exceptionally well for misty mornings, snowy landscapes, or even sunny beaches. Möhrle emphasizes the importance of starting with the right base image. Simply brightening a dark photo in editing won’t yield the desired effect. The winter season offers a natural advantage with its reflective snow and diffused light, making it easier to achieve the ultra-minimalistic look that defines high-key photography.
The video then dives into capturing high-key images effectively. Möhrle advises enabling your camera's histogram and pushing the exposure as far to the right as possible without overexposing. This technique, known as "expose to the right," ensures a bright base image while preserving detail in the highlights. Adjusting shutter speed, ISO, or aperture can help achieve the desired brightness. Möhrle shares his preference for slower shutter speeds and a consistent aperture range of f/11 to f/16 to maintain sharpness.
The editing process, showcased in the video, walks you through enhancing the high-key effect in Lightroom. Möhrle starts by softening the contrast using Adobe Standard profiles and brightening the image while carefully monitoring the histogram to avoid overexposure. Adjustments to shadows and highlights help refine the low-contrast look, while tweaking the black slider reintroduces a touch of contrast for balance. He also demonstrates how to correct color casts and add a dreamy glow with clarity and dehaze adjustments. For those wanting a pop of color, Möhrle shares techniques for selectively boosting saturation in specific tones like oranges and blues.
Beyond the basics, Möhrle explores advanced steps like masking and color grading to further polish the image. A linear gradient combined with a radial gradient isolates the brightest areas, allowing for precise adjustments without risking overexposure. In the calibration panel, shifting hues and increasing saturation create subtle color contrast between elements like snow and foliage. Final touches include sharpening the image to highlight fine details, ensuring the photograph retains clarity without introducing noise. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Möhrle.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, "Photographing the World: Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems with Elia Locardi!”
