LowKeyPhotography.pdf

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HOW TO PLAN AND EXECUTE THE DRAMA
OF LOW KEY PHOTOGRAPHY
Quick Guide
Written by Stacey Hill
HOW TO PLAN AND EXECUTE THE DRAMA OF LOW KEY PHOTOGRAPHY //
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It was while researching ideas for still life
and food photography that I stumbled
across some gorgeous dark, moody
images.
The colors were intense, and there were
heaps of black background and dark
shadows providing wonderful contrast.
These images captivated me, and I spent
a year trying to replicate the style for
myself.
Each time I shot, I got closer and closer
to the desired outcome, but it remained
elusively out of reach. That is until I saw a
similar style of image on Facebook, and I
queried the creator as to her technique.
She gave me the final piece of the puzzle
that I was missing, which I will share with
you today.
Photograph by Stacey Hill
This dark and moody (low key) style
of lighting embraces the chiaroscuro
technique made famous by the 17
th
century painters. Chiaroscuro comes from
the Italian “chiaro” meaning clear/light
and “oscuro” meaning obscure/dark.
HOW TO PLAN AND EXECUTE THE DRAMA OF LOW KEY PHOTOGRAPHY //
©
PHOTZY.COM
2
It added drama with the extreme contrast
of light and shadow, but also importantly
in a two dimensional medium like
painting, the play of light and dark areas
gave a depth and three dimensional
realism previously lacking.
Low key is used for portraits, food, still
life, product shots and studio work. For
big scale shoots, the professionals use
studio lights and large modifiers, but you
can achieve very nice effects with natural
light and some way of shaping the light.
Recommended Reading:
Improve your photography by
working better with light. Grab a
copy of Photzy’s best-selling
premium guide, Understanding Light
Book Two.
Photograph by Stacey Hill
HOW TO PLAN AND EXECUTE THE DRAMA OF LOW KEY PHOTOGRAPHY //
©
PHOTZY.COM
3
WHAT IS LOW KEY?
Low key is when the image is composed with the
subject being well exposed but with a focus on
shadows, darkness, and depth in the background and
processing.
Normally when we shoot our images, the aim is to
expose them correctly for the lighting situation that
you have at hand. Many people “shoot a little to
the right,” by which they mean they set the camera
to expose so that the histogram is balanced a little
more to the right. The left edge of the histogram
covers the blacks, the right edge covers the whites,
and the middle graduates from one to the other.
When you expose more to the right, it brings in more
of the lighter tones but not so far that you blow out
the highlights (when the whites have no detail and
are big flat blobs of white).
When you shoot more to the left, bringing out the
blacks and the shadows, it’s low key. The opposite is
high key, where it’s all bright and white.
It’s a stylistic choice to changing your lighting and
processing in an extremely dark way. Opinions
will vary as to whether it is artistic or just simply
underexposed. My approach is to go with what feels
right for the particular image. So don’t be afraid to
push the boundaries much further than they make
you feel comfortable.
Key Lesson:
Low key is a specific way of
shooting or processing your images to
enhance the blacks and shadows
HOW TO PLAN AND EXECUTE THE DRAMA OF LOW KEY PHOTOGRAPHY //
©
PHOTZY.COM
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