Low Key Lighting Shot

Where you decide to position your key light relative to the camera and your subject will have a dramatic effect on your end result.

Low key lighting shot. Low-key is a term that describes images that are dark and contain few highlight areas. The general mood of a low key image is dark but that does not necessarily imply an. You can then edit the contrast and shadows to create a dramatic shot.

Normans creepiness is illuminated by lighting him from behind which draws the audience to view and focus in on his reactions as the car is sinking stalls a bit then sinks again. Low key portraiture replaces a light airy feel with a more moody dramatic look. The main use of low-key lighting as a creative visual tool is to accentuate the shape and contour of a subject by leaving additional lighting fill light for example at a bare minimum or omitting it entirely.

In this setup shadows and deep blacks are more predominant than mid-tones and transitions between highlights and shadows are harsh. It simply means the main light source is just about illuminating the main subject or important parts of the subject and not the entire frame. Low key refers to a style of photography that utilizes predominantly dark tones to create a dramatic looking image.

Youll still need correct exposure on the face. Low key photography on the other hand uses only a key light which is optionally controlled with a fill light or a simple reflector. Low Key animal photography can be achieved in post-editing so long as your depth of field is shallow enough to throw the background out of focus.

A more practical reason to use low key lighting would be to hide the environment you are shooting in. A great example of this can be found in No Country for Old Men. Low key photography refers to images with very dark often pure black backgrounds still with detailed and well-exposed subjects.

To start the sinking car scene had a low-key lighting by the night sky to emphasis the need to hide a crime and also to hint at the darker aspects of Norman Bates. The key with animal low key photography is to make sure that your subject is softly lit in front of a dark shadowed background. Where high key lighting seeks to over light the subject to the point of reduced contrast low key lighting intensifies the contrast in an image through intensely reduced lighting.