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10/01/2004 08:27:07 PM · #1 |
Does anyone have any nice, simple tips for low key photography. I'd be interested to hear from JJ and Julia as they always achieves such depth with seemingly very little light. Here are some shots that effectively represent the technique in my view:
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10/01/2004 09:58:37 PM · #2 |
Well, "Chevron" is an image like this, I believe. It's one of your's.
To my surprise, I seem to have a sleuth of 'em without ever realizing it. I mainly relate to the mood low keys evoke. The contrast is stark, but there is no harshness. Light, like so many other things, is more precious when 'rare'.
I have a habit of exloring the limits (levels/contrast and brightness) of just about every image I load into an editor. Some images lend themselves to an altered state of light (artificial underexposure) wonderfully, others demand their own directives. As a result, I find both 'pushed' images and those which were underexposed by the amount of available light prior to meeting the sensor.
Here are some examples:
    
Message edited by author 2004-10-01 22:04:19.
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10/02/2004 05:34:13 AM · #3 |
Here are some of mine which I think are low-key, but I'm not sure if they fit the category technically.
       
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10/02/2004 10:37:05 AM · #4 |
I think you guys have chosen some great examples. I love low key stuff, but tend to get a lot of noise. If I move my ISO up, I get even more noise, so I usually stick with 100. Does anyone else have this problem? It could just be my camera.
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10/02/2004 11:27:13 AM · #5 |
I had that problem with my sony, David, but I haven't tried it with my rebel.
This is my only shot. I think.
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10/02/2004 11:51:21 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by dsidwell:
I think you guys have chosen some great examples. I love low key stuff, but tend to get a lot of noise. If I move my ISO up, I get even more noise, so I usually stick with 100. Does anyone else have this problem? It could just be my camera. |
It is the 707 (vs. the low noise of a DSLR). I'm sure, coz I often use my 717 alongside the 10D, with distinctly different noise levels.
The only way I know how to combat this is to make sure there is enough available light in the first place (atmospheric conditions appear to play a big role too, with the Sonys), and then 'push' the image. The process, at least to me, feels quite 'radical', since, inadvertantly, whatever tonal gradations might have been there -sometimes a whole background, will be turned to night. The welcome flip side, of course, is that most noise sits precisely there - in the dusk.
PS: I've never changed the ISO on my 717. Even when I want noise, I can achieve it at 100.;-)
Message edited by author 2004-10-02 11:56:59.
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10/02/2004 03:25:06 PM · #7 |
Not too many people liked this, but it actually came out pretty much the way I had planned ... unfortunately it was just in a challenge where it "stood out like a sore thumb" (sorry, I coudn't resist), and where it bore only a subtle relationship to the challenge topic ...
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10/02/2004 06:00:36 PM · #8 |
Nice examples posted - and I do think my camera (F717) may be a problem with this too. I am tiring of the noisel levels in low light which has prevented me from exploring low-key the way I'd like to.
Thanks for the feedback. |
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10/02/2004 06:57:40 PM · #9 |
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10/02/2004 07:55:56 PM · #10 |
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10/02/2004 08:30:03 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Imagineer:
...I do think my camera (F717) may be a problem with this too. I am tiring of the noisel levels in low light which has prevented me from exploring low-key the way I'd like to... |
Well, yes. On the other hand, Jon, JJ's image "Morning Colors" as well as my "Water Shed" and "Ebb and Flow" were taken with Sonys without displaying any discernible noise. Both "Morning Colors" and "Ebb and Flow" were shot in low ambient light.
I've come to ascribe certain characteristics, personalities even, after sufficient acquaintance to specific makes of cameras. This has helped me quite a bit to accept specific deficiencies as traits rather than faults. ;-)
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10/02/2004 08:47:07 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Imagineer:
Nice examples posted - and I do think my camera (F717) may be a problem with this too. I am tiring of the noisel levels in low light which has prevented me from exploring low-key the way I'd like to.
Thanks for the feedback. |
You could do what I did...buy another camera. (Actually, it was an early Christmas present from my hubby!) I do love my Sony, though and I won't sell it. |
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10/02/2004 09:06:56 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by zeuszen:
I've come to ascribe certain characteristics, personalities even, after sufficient acquaintance to specific makes of cameras. This has helped me quite a bit to accept specific deficiencies as traits rather than faults. ;-) |
If people would adopt this attitude towards each other the world would become a lot more "low key" than it is now ... : )
As it is, we're headed more towards what I predict in my photo ... : ( |
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10/02/2004 09:39:04 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
If people would adopt this attitude towards each other the world would become a lot more "low key" than it is now ... : ) ... |
It's not easy to do this with people. The long line of political sophists will line up to file charges of all sorts of isms... ;-)
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10/02/2004 09:46:40 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
As it is, we're headed more towards what I predict in my photo ... : ( |
:( |
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10/03/2004 01:19:47 PM · #16 |
I have had some small success producing these "low-key" kinds of images. I'm just a beginner, but here is what I concluded:
I think a key tip is to have the light source be from one point source, or better yet, unidirectional. This sets up the highlights and shadows. There should be plenty of light, though, when you snap the shutter, and you want the ultimate center of attention of the picture to be the most brightly lit, well-focused, but not blown out. I have a Fuji 2800, and I set my EV to -0.6 to -1.2 or so.
Later, you can PP the pic with increased contrast and lowered brightness, boost the color, do levels, etc and you are done :)
Thats how I shot this one, which, if manipulated to be darker, would fit the thread's bill even more, I think
Message edited by author 2004-10-03 13:25:28. |
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