Blog 8: Low key portrait
photography
Hello and welcome to my newest blogpost. Today I would like
to discuss “Low Key portrait photogaphy”. I reckon everybody knows what
portrait photography is, but I can imagine that not everyone knows what low key
means. Low key is basically shooting with insufficient lighting, bei t in the
entire photograph or a part of it. I will start off with two examples of low
key portrait photography and then explain how I made these photographs and how
you can too!
This is example one. In this photo (yes this is me, so it’s
a selfie), insufficient lighting was used to create a low key effect on the
entire body. The face and the left side of my body are clearly visible while at
the same time, my legs and the right side of my body has dissapeared into the
blackness. This gives the photograph a very distinct look. Some might argue
that it makes people look more chique or “classy”. For me, it is a great way to
cover up those extra kilo’s! Ofcourse the kilo’s reappear when you switch the
lights back on.. Right, moving on.
Example two. In this example, insufficient lighting was used
to create a low key effect on the face. As can be seen in this photograph, the
left part of the face is highlighted while the right side is lost to the
shadows. The amount of face lost can be adjusted by using a reflective screen,
but I will speak about that in the next part of this blog. As in any form of
portrait photography, focus on the eyes is very important. People truly speak
through their eyes. By the way, this slightly older, balder and leaner version
of me is my brother J.
These two photographs were made in the same way. The only
difference was the placing of my studioflash and the reflective screen. The
easiest way for you do practice low key photography is in a dark room with the
use of a single external flash and a reflective screen. If the room is dark
enough, the background will not matter. However, you might want to invest in a
matte black background. I usually use the following setup:
In this setup, the
flash will come from your right, lighting up the face and/or body of that
person. The reflective screen will cause part of the face on the dark side to
show some detail as in the following example.
The reflective screen has caused this woman her eye to light
up. Odd, calling my girlfriend “this woman”. Ofcourse, the intensity of the
light is controlled by adjusting the power of the flash. Professional flash
equipment usually has the ability to adjust the power of the flash in several
steps. You will have to experiment with different light intensities to
determine what works best for you. If you want to remove the detail from you
dark side of your model, simply remove the reflective screen (as with my
brother).
The easiest way to learn low key is just by doing. You can
use any off camera flash but I strongly suggest buying one or two professional
flash units as they offer more control and are more powerful. I use the
Lastolite Lumen8 F400, a 400 Watt flash unit, which is sufficient for small
studio’s and not more then 2 or 3 people. Needless to say, more power means
more light, suitable for example for large groups of people.
Well there you have it. My 8th blogpost! I hope you enjoyed
the read and if you have any further questions, don’t hasitate to ask!
Here are some more examples:
