low key Archives - DIY Photography

How to create low key Rembrandt light portraits in the studio

September 22, 2017 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

Rembrandt had a wonderful way of simulating light in his paintings. So much so, that there’s a whole photography lighting technique named after him. Not surprisingly, Rembrandt lighting. It’s characterised by a small triangle of light under the subject’s eye on the shadow side of the face. It’s typical of how Rembrandt painted his subjects.

This video from Jay P Morgan shows us how we can get a Rembrandt style lighting setup in a low key portrait. With the help of a couple of young ladies, a pomeranian and a chicken, we see how the shot is built up to provide a classic look with a modern twist.

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High Key, Low Key, Or Just Badly Exposed?

October 29, 2015 by Stefan Kohler 6 Comments

Here is Wikipedia’s definition for Low-Key Lighting:

Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. It is a necessary element in creating a chiaroscuro effect. Traditional photographic lighting, three-point lighting uses a key light, a fill light, and a back light for illumination. Low-key lighting often uses only one key light, optionally controlled with a fill light or a simple reflector.

Low key light accentuates the contours of an object by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast. The relative strength of key-to-fill, known as the lighting ratio, can be measured using a light meter. Low key lighting has a higher lighting ratio, e.g., 8:1, than high-key lighting, which can approach 1:1.

The term “low key” is used in cinematography to refer to any scene with a high lighting ratio, especially if there is a predominance of shadowy areas. It tends to heighten the sense of alienation felt by the viewer, hence is commonly used in film noir and horror genres. #

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Avoidable Photographic Errors

May 24, 2015 by Ming Thein 7 Comments

Rule number one: there are no rules. A ‘mistake’ may not necessarily be a mistake if it helps convey the message or story or feeling intended by the photographer. I can easily think of multiple examples that go against every scenario described below. That said, for the most part, I’ve found these ‘mistakes’ to hold true. And if you want to achieve something very specific, then you either won’t be reading this article in the first place, or you’ll know when to bend the rules. The general viewing public probably has some preformed opinions of what is right/good, but these are born out of as much ignorance as conditioning by companies trying to sell more software or lenses or something else. There are rational reasons why these opinions may not necessarily be right in the context of fulfilling creative intention.

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Lighting – Low key Lighting Setups

October 22, 2007 by Udi Tirosh 1 Comment

Last week I have talked about an important aspect of any picture – contrast. It was only natural to follow up with an article about low key and high lighting as both are tightly related to contrast.

After covering the definitions and some samples of High Key and Low key images, it is time to show some setups that will enable you to take High Key and Low Key pictures. I’ll start with Low Key images today and will follow soon with some High Key setups.[Read More…]