Studio Lighting There are two main types of lighting in studio photography, high key and low key lighting.
High Key Lighting
High key lighting is unnaturally bright, even, and shows little contrast between light and dark areas. This type of lighting is generally used in portrait, fashion, and product photography, and tends to convey a happy, upbeat mood.
Low Key Lighting
Low key lighting on the other hand uses dimmer light, producing dark shadows, and much contrast between light and dark. Photographs taken using low key lighting tend to convey a sense of drama. Use of low key lighting can often be seen on album covers.
During a lesson in the studio we were taught about lighting, and then given a chance to experiment, taking photographs of classmates using different lighting. Some of these photographs can be seen below.