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Key features
The high-key approach works best when the subject is placed against a bland sky or an intense, bright mid-day sun
Wildlife photography lends itself beautifully to the ‘less is more’ philosophy, where the emphasis is placed on the subject without other distracting or competing elements detracting from the story. One effective way to achieve this is through high-key photography, a technique that emphasises the subject against plain, bright backgrounds, enhancing the separation between the subject and background and creating visually striking images.
The often ethereal, dreamy quality of high-key images is achieved by breaking from the usual photographic conventions and bending traditional exposure rules. It’s a fantastic contradiction that while rules guide us, breaking them often leads to making the most captivating images. This is the paradoxical dichotomy that makes photography so exciting!