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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Low key look without losing shadows.
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 07/08/2012 05:43:33 PM · #1
How do you get this overall low key look without losing detail in the shadows? Are they doing this in camera or mostly in post?

Here are some examples:

//500px.com/photo/8945448
//500px.com/photo/8348559
//500px.com/photo/7293104
//500px.com/photo/1365253

My lighting always seems "hotter" than this. And if I dial it down I can't seem to keep the detail in shadows, even with reflectors. Are they doing a lot of this balancing act in post?

Message edited by author 2012-07-08 17:44:53.
 07/08/2012 06:46:36 PM · #2
I would suspect a diffused light source (softbox) set to low power so there's not a huge difference between the lit area and ambient light. Watch your histogram to hold shadow detail, and then darken to taste in post.
 07/08/2012 09:21:09 PM · #3
Originally posted by scalvert:
I would suspect a diffused light source (softbox) set to low power so there's not a huge difference between the lit area and ambient light. Watch your histogram to hold shadow detail, and then darken to taste in post.


A lot of those look like there is zero ambient though.
 07/08/2012 10:34:06 PM · #4
Just a simple curves adjustment to lighten gives you this:



I don't see anything complex going on at all with the lighting, just the down-key post-processing.

I'll remove this image in a day or so.
 07/08/2012 10:52:48 PM · #5
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Just a simple curves adjustment to lighten gives you this:



I don't see anything complex going on at all with the lighting, just the down-key post-processing.

I'll remove this image in a day or so.


So she just used curves? Any idea what specifically she did?

Message edited by author 2012-07-08 22:55:52.
 07/08/2012 11:11:24 PM · #6
Just take one of your shots that you want to do this with, and experiment a bit. Adjust exposure, brightness, contrast, black point, curves, see what works. It will vary from image to image anyway. You might hit on something that will work as a starting point preset/action, but there is no set formula for this. It will always depend on your starting point image.
 07/08/2012 11:40:14 PM · #7
Originally posted by kgeary:
So she just used curves? Any idea what specifically she did?


Well, THIS iteration of it is a simple arched curve up to the left, so in theory, if this is how the original looked, she could have used an arched curve down to the right... I don't know that this is WHAT she did, though. My main point here was to show that we're not dealing with anything fancy in lighting, it's just available light. The scenes pretty much backlit, backlit from the right side.
 07/09/2012 02:47:19 PM · #8
Originally posted by chromeydome:
Just take one of your shots that you want to do this with, and experiment a bit. Adjust exposure, brightness, contrast, black point, curves, see what works. It will vary from image to image anyway. You might hit on something that will work as a starting point preset/action, but there is no set formula for this. It will always depend on your starting point image.


I've done that with no luck, which is why I was asking.
 07/09/2012 02:53:17 PM · #9
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by kgeary:
So she just used curves? Any idea what specifically she did?


Well, THIS iteration of it is a simple arched curve up to the left, so in theory, if this is how the original looked, she could have used an arched curve down to the right...

I use Curves for almost all of my tonal adjustments. One thing which can help is to stack two or more adjustment layers to combine the effects.
 07/09/2012 03:24:11 PM · #10
Get the relative ambient vs subject right first. You can use a strong flash in the day time and step down or you can use a weak flash at the evening/morning hours and have something good to start with. You may not even need it depending on time of day/ weather/ reflector you may carry. If you can get within two stops of what you want, you should be able to adjust in raw with much forgiveness. I would say most of it, you can get right in camera. If you want an exact duplicate, looks like theres two light sources from either end throwing a catch in her eyes if i m not hallucinating. Thats how i'ld approach it anyways. people here are generally much much more experienced than i.

Message edited by author 2012-07-09 15:49:48.
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