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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> High Key vs. Low Key
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 06/22/2011 12:15:07 AM · #1
High Key

Low Key

Low Key II

Low Key VI

For some reason Low Key III wasn't on on the list?

But here they are...

Message edited by author 2011-06-22 00:17:36.
 06/22/2011 01:04:06 AM · #2
So what is the best way to take a high key photo, and a low key, what settings do you adjust on your camera, I've never taken one of these, well not on purpose anyway ?
 06/22/2011 01:14:31 AM · #3
My assumption, correct me if I am wrong, is the lighting and where it is coming from.

Take for example in the low key I...



Obviously shadows are what you are looking for.

And this one for High Key



There is a LOT of lighting going in all directions virtually showing no shadows.

Again correct me if I am wrong.
 06/22/2011 01:36:01 AM · #4
Originally posted by Neat:
So what is the best way to take a high key photo, and a low key, what settings do you adjust on your camera, I've never taken one of these, well not on purpose anyway ?

Low Key
Higk Key
 06/22/2011 02:57:53 AM · #5
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My assumption, correct me if I am wrong, is the lighting and where it is coming from.

Take for example in the low key I...



Obviously shadows are what you are looking for.

And this one for High Key



There is a LOT of lighting going in all directions virtually showing no shadows.

Again correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks for using my image as an example :-)
I wouldn't necessarily say that lighting direction has too much to do with it. It is more with under / overexposure. That doesnt mean you should blow the highlights for a high key and clip the blacks for a low key but in general (caution - this is just a generalisation and not a hard and fast rule!) a high key's histogram should be weighted to the right hand side and a low key's histogram to the left hand side.
 06/23/2011 08:41:28 AM · #6
Maybe I can do a low key and won't get my usual "too dark" comments. LOL
 06/23/2011 01:29:27 PM · #7
Originally posted by Jutilda:
Maybe I can do a low key and won't get my usual "too dark" comments. LOL


Of course you will. Look at the comments of previous key challenges and you can see this is the time of year the "No my monitor is calibrated, yours is not" wars break out. It is normal for entries in low key to be told that there is too much distracting detail in the black and that it is totally blocked up. It is a good idea to check your entry on quite a few monitors before submission.
 06/23/2011 01:39:04 PM · #8
Originally posted by BrennanOB:
Of course you will. Look at the comments of previous key challenges and you can see this is the time of year the "No my monitor is calibrated, yours is not" wars break out. It is normal for entries in low key to be told that there is too much distracting detail in the black and that it is totally blocked up. It is a good idea to check your entry on quite a few monitors before submission.


LOL...you are so right.

I'm submitting my entry with a free hardware calibration tool for each voter.
 06/23/2011 08:31:05 PM · #9
i just noticed, basic editing??? i guess portraits are out the window...

i was looking forward to this... :(

06/24/2011 09:24:25 PM · #10
A portrait shot taken days ago, will this one consider Low Key?
Meneater
 06/24/2011 09:41:46 PM · #11
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..
 06/24/2011 10:10:32 PM · #12
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..


Thank you. please, would you be so kind and tell me why you wouldn't submit it?
 06/24/2011 10:25:17 PM · #13
I wouldn't because it is too close to not meeting the standards of a "low key" shot... That is just my thought...
 06/25/2011 09:03:02 PM · #14
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..


With a different cropping, think it would work meet criteria.
 06/25/2011 09:09:51 PM · #15
Originally posted by TheDruid:
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..


With a different cropping, think it would work meet criteria.


What possible cropping, that still includes the figure, would make this more low key? The figure is the only part of the image that *doesn't* feel low key to me...

R.
 06/25/2011 09:19:16 PM · #16
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by TheDruid:
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..


With a different cropping, think it would work meet criteria.


What possible cropping, that still includes the figure, would make this more low key? The figure is the only part of the image that *doesn't* feel low key to me...

R.
I am confused. I looked at the histogram and looks very low key to me. Have I misunderstood this challenge?
 06/25/2011 09:26:58 PM · #17
I think there is a confusion between low key lighting and low key photography. The distinction seems to be much clearer for high key photography. This link might be of interest:
[thumb]//www.fuelyourphotography.com/key-photography-effects-high-key-and-low-key-photography/[/thumb]
but I am yet to find a better online resource for this technique. Low key seems to focus almost entirely on portraits. High key includes landscapes.
 06/25/2011 09:33:12 PM · #18
..

Message edited by author 2011-06-26 11:27:49.
 06/25/2011 09:39:20 PM · #19
Originally posted by MargaretN:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by TheDruid:
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..


With a different cropping, think it would work meet criteria.


What possible cropping, that still includes the figure, would make this more low key? The figure is the only part of the image that *doesn't* feel low key to me...

R.
I am confused. I looked at the histogram and looks very low key to me. Have I misunderstood this challenge?


Well, for me the issue of "low key" is best addressed by concentrating on the subject and how it is lit/rendered. I don't think a full-scale, toned subject floating in a sea of black qualifies as "low key", even if the histogram shows (correctly) that virtually all of the image is black.

Let me ask you this: if you shot a picture of the full moon in the middle of the night, where the moon was fully detailed but only filled an eighth of the frame or so, the rest being black sky, would you call that "low key"? Would you call a single, white lily against a large, black velvet ground, isolated in the corner, "low key"? I wouldn't, in either case, but the *histogram* would suggest both qualified. So I think histograms can be very deceptive.

But that's just my personal opinion, not gospel or anything.

R.
 06/25/2011 09:52:09 PM · #20
Originally posted by alexlky:
A portrait shot taken days ago, will this one consider Low Key?
Meneater

Would work great in National Geographic :)
 06/25/2011 10:42:07 PM · #21
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by MargaretN:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by TheDruid:
Originally posted by mbrutus2009:
My thought on the whole... "Would this be considered DNMC?" question is this...

If you have to ask.. I wouldn't submit it..


With a different cropping, think it would work meet criteria.


What possible cropping, that still includes the figure, would make this more low key? The figure is the only part of the image that *doesn't* feel low key to me...

R.
I am confused. I looked at the histogram and looks very low key to me. Have I misunderstood this challenge?


Well, for me the issue of "low key" is best addressed by concentrating on the subject and how it is lit/rendered. I don't think a full-scale, toned subject floating in a sea of black qualifies as "low key", even if the histogram shows (correctly) that virtually all of the image is black.

Let me ask you this: if you shot a picture of the full moon in the middle of the night, where the moon was fully detailed but only filled an eighth of the frame or so, the rest being black sky, would you call that "low key"? Would you call a single, white lily against a large, black velvet ground, isolated in the corner, "low key"? I wouldn't, in either case, but the *histogram* would suggest both qualified. So I think histograms can be very deceptive.

But that's just my personal opinion, not gospel or anything.

R.
But that goes back to lighting determining whether the image is low key, and not the overall tone of the image. I am still confused :) (looks like a great challenge for DNMC police - get your light meters ready! ;)
 06/25/2011 11:43:33 PM · #22
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by MargaretN:
Iam confused. I looked at the histogram and looks very low key to me. Have I misunderstood this challenge?


Well, for me the issue of "low key" is best addressed by concentrating on the subject and how it is lit/rendered. I don't think a full-scale, toned subject floating in a sea of black qualifies as "low key", even if the histogram shows (correctly) that virtually all of the image is black.

... So I think histograms can be very deceptive.

But that's just my personal opinion, not gospel or anything.

R.


Robert, can I distill your comments down to contrast and distribution of tones? Did I read you correctly? Represent all tones, preserving contrast in key areas. Same goes for high key from my perspective.

An example that I consider low key despite bright regions, both of which I like.



My Low Key IV entry. Poorly polished. Too low key, laking in anything over zone 6.

1x version, proper whites to balance the blacks (IMHO).
 06/26/2011 12:01:02 AM · #23
That's a pretty good distillation, Ben; and both those images feel distinctly low-key to me.

R.
 06/26/2011 06:31:07 AM · #24
Originally posted by salmiakki:
Originally posted by alexlky:
A portrait shot taken days ago, will this one consider Low Key?
Meneater

Would work great in National Geographic :)


My fellow team mateduring this expedition are with them now at Himalayas

Another confuse LK poster "the figure is the only part of the image"

How to use camera histogram to detect perfect LK/HK images

Message edited by author 2011-06-26 06:34:22.
 06/26/2011 11:19:09 AM · #25
I'm in but I'm worried about the people with darker monitors (my subject is barely there and any darker it'll just disappear) and I also keep remembering the dq where darkening an image deleted the background. I can see my background but on a darker monitor .... *twiddling thumbs*
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