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Overexposure is usually considered a bad result in photography – something to be avoided at all costs. The same is true of blown-out backgrounds and overcast skies. But sometimes, this “high-key” look can be exactly what a photo needs. 

Among the biggest challenges in wildlife and landscape photography is an overcast sky. You might even hesitate to pull out your gear in the first place on cloudy days.

Instead of putting away your camera in these situations, see if you can use the bright, overexposed background to your advantage and end up with a powerful photo.

What is High-Key Photography?

• In short, high-key images are those that have few shadows and have the subject set against a very bright background. High-key images are often set against over-exposed backdrops. In high-key photos, the average of all the pixels in the image is very bright. High-key is the opposite of low-key images that are defined by their darker tones.
• For landscape photography, snowy scenes are some of the best ways to take high-key photos. High-key images also work well in foggy conditions. There will only be a few shadow details in such a photo, while the rest can be bright or even completely white.
• Meanwhile, in wildlife photography, a typical high-key photo involves an overcast sky that has been brightly exposed, often to the point of looking completely blown-out.
• A high-key photo has a bright, positive feel compared to a dramatic and moody low-key image. Some high-key images, like the one above, can be quite high in contrast. In other cases, like the photo below, high-key photography is used to brighten the entire photo and give a low-contrast, etherial emotion to the photo. This look is common in portraiture, but also works in other situations like snowy landscapes and sand dunes.

Recommended Camera Settings

• Spot Metering – The first thing I do when making a high-key image is change the metering mode to spot metering. I do this because matrix/evaluative metering mode – my usual preference – tends to look at the entire scene, which turns overcast clouds, snow, and fog close to middle gray.
• Admittedly, your subject needs to be big enough that the spot meter doesn’t pick up on the background behind it. Correspondingly, you may still need to use some positive exposure compensation if the images are turning out too dark (or brighten them in post-processing).
• But at least for larger subjects, like many wildlife photos, spot metering will allow you to get a properly exposed subject set against a much brighter background.
• With spot metering, I could achieve a high-key photo with no exposure compensation needed
  Some might argue that you can use matrix metering with positive exposure compensation. The problem with such an approach is that it is hard to guess the necessary exposure compensation to expose the subject correctly.
• For instance, if you are shooting against the sun, even compensations of +2 or +3 might not expose the shadows properly. But with spot metering, you can get the proper exposure with relatively few tries.

Be Accurate with White Balance

• Many high-keys are black and white, but for color photography, you often want to ensure that the white areas of your photo have minimal color tint. In other words, you need to pay even more attention than usual to your white balance. Thankfully, this is easy to correct in post-processing if you shoot RAW rather than JPEG.

Challenges with High-Key Photography

• Subject Selection – The subject in a high-key photo often works best if it has a defined shape and clear shadows. This helps it contrast against the background and allow a viewer’s eye to hone in on the subject.
• Autofocus Accuracy – With a bright – background, autofocus can hunt and suffer in terms of accuracy. The brighter the background relative to the subject, the more of an issue this can be.
• Chromatic Aberration – A dark subject with an overexposed background is an ideal recipe for chromatic aberration but can be corrected in post processing.
• Blown Highlights on the Subject – Small blown highlights on the subject may not bother you all the time, but sometimes, they can be distracting (and easy to miss in the field). Even with the “blinkies” warning turned on, you may not notice small, specular highlights that are blown out on your subject. For that reason, you may want to take a slightly darker exposure and then brighten it in post-processing, instead of going for the high-key look entirely in-camera. Alternatively, if your subject is static, you can bracket your exposures and take one that’s darker by about one stop of light. You may end up using the brighter photo after all, but at least then you’ll have a backup.