A high-key image consists primarily of light tones, without dark shadows. A photograph or painting so composed features a diminished tonal range of primarily whites and light grays.
High key as a term used in describing paintings or photographs is related to but not the same as
high-key lighting
High-key lighting is a style of lighting for film, television, or photography that aims to reduce the lighting ratio present in the scene. This was originally done partly for technological reasons, since early film and television did not deal w ...
in cinema or photography.
See also
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Low key
Low key as a term used in describing paintings or photographs is related to but not the same as low-key lighting in cinema or photography. A photographic image, painting or movie can be defined as "low-key" if its dominant values are black, dark ...
References
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