{"id":3834,"date":"2011-12-14T12:02:05","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T18:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=3834"},"modified":"2025-09-29T13:05:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T18:05:23","slug":"high-key-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/12\/14\/high-key-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"High Key Fun"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems that people either love high key images or they hate them. Personally; I believe that when a high key image is done well that\u00a0they can be very appealing and have a place in my portfolio.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I went out on low light with falling snow to photograph birds on a pond near where I live and came back with a few high key images I really like, one of which I have posted below.<\/p>\n

\"HighHigh key Mallard hen – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Mallard\u00a0 had just come out of the water and was walking on snow-covered ice so in this case the foreground and background are entirely snowy white.<\/p>\n

By using exposure compensation of +0.3 I was able to expose the Mallard so that it would not need to be lightened in post processing introducing unwanted or unnecessary noise plus it showed nice details in her plumage.<\/p>\n

There is sufficient detail by the duck’s feet to show that it was walking on snow.<\/p>\n

\"HighHigh key first year Bald Eagle\u00a0 – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/250, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 300mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

High key images do not always have white backgrounds, at times they are very light colors or a combination of colors like in this image of a first year Bald Eagle, the upper portion is sky and the lighter area below is snow on the ground.<\/p>\n

Because of the light and the exposure compensation I used I was able to retain the bird’s color and fine details in the plumage.<\/p>\n

\"HighHigh Key Rough-legged Hawk lift off\u00a0 – Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 335mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Gray or milky skies often lend themselves to the creation of high key images, when I photographed the Rough-legged Hawk above the skies were grey but in the distant background the out of focus mountains are still visible.<\/p>\n

Personally I like all three images and will continue to look for the opportunity to create more high key images. They are different than my “normal” images but creating them also tests and increases my photographic skills and I enjoy that.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems that people either love high key images or they hate them. Personally; I believe that when a high key image is done well that they can be very appealing and have a place for them in my portfolio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,27,1022,965,1087,709,26],"tags":[4004,4237,846,4275,2497,126,4070,4052,4122,4152,4033,4359,1123,4067,4282,156,1604,153,1648,4050,4328,373],"class_list":["post-3834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bald-eagle","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-mallards","category-rough-legged-hawks","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-anas-platyrhynchos","tag-bald-eagle","tag-buteo-lagopus","tag-buteos","tag-ducks-2","tag-female","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-haliaeetus-leucocephalus","tag-hawk","tag-hen","tag-high-key-2","tag-immature","tag-lift-off","tag-low-light-2","tag-mallard","tag-raptors","tag-rough-legged-hawk","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7924.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ZQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62133,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/18\/hen-mallard-in-fresh-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":3834,"position":0},"title":"Hen Mallard In Fresh Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This post is about this pretty little Mallard hen walking in the fresh snow that fell during the night two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mallard hen walking in fresh snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-hen-snow-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-hen-snow-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-hen-snow-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-hen-snow-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56254,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/20\/rough-legged-hawk-expelling-a-pellet-close-up-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":3834,"position":1},"title":"Rough-legged Hawk Expelling A Pellet Close Up Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I've never been this close to a Rough-legged Hawk expelling a pellet before and it is likely that I will never be this fortunate again. This Rough-legged Hawk was my best bird for the day and I'm glad I stopped and waited for him to expel the pellet before moving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"High key Rough-legged Hawk close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5143.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/rough-legged-hawk-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5143.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After I photographed the handsome Gadwall drake that I shared yesterday I couldn't resist taking images of this alert and dapper Mallard drake in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dapper Mallard drake in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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