Low Key really is the black (so to speak) as more and more we’re seeing the gradual disappearance of those ‘Venture’ High Key white backgrounds.

Not that High Key doesn’t have it’s place in modern portrait photography but like all trends it’s time to move on!

What is Low Key Photography?

Low high is all about simplicity. Generally a dark background is used, although it doesn’t have to be completely black.

Normally the subject is lit with a single light source and there is a high degree of contrast between the light and dark areas.

The key light can be coupled with the subtle use of a fill light or reflector.

Low key isn’t by any mens a ‘new’ technique and has it’s roots in painting and the Chiaroscuro effect. Sometime known in photography as Rembrandt Lighting the principles are basically the same.

Traditionally in photography, the use of the Chiaroscuro effect or Rembrandt Lighting has been used mostly in nudes but today there is a growing trend in portrait photography.

I think this has mostly to do with it’s simplicity and elegance.

We’ve started to see a rise in low key photography in weddings too, often the subjects are lit with video lights or off camera flash.

The Setup

For this shot we set the camera up to produce and almost black images without the light on.

Have a look the histogram on the back of your camera. What you’re after is the graph to show something like this….

Our settings worked out as 1/125 at f11.

We then metered our light to f11…. simple!

As we didn’t want to have any spill onto the background we attached a honeycomb grid to our strobe which was positioned just above the subject.

To maximise the contrast we didn’t use a reflector but if you want to add a little bit more detail into the shadow area then go ahead!