Project 52 Week 17: “Low Key”

Welcome to week 17 of the 52 Week Pet Photography Projects Blog Circle.  This week’s topic is  “Low Key”

What is low key photography?

A few week’s ago we tackled the topic of  “high key” – where the light is exaggerated to the bright end to the spectrum.  That was my first time working with high key and I enjoyed it!  Low key is the  opposite.  The light is slanted to the dark end of the spectrum.  A low-key image is one that contains predominantly dark tones and colors and shadows become the primary element of the composition.  Low key images are said to be “dramatic” and “mysterious”.

My set up for this week is indoors with my Alien Bee 800, a medium soft box and black seamless paper.  Kota was my very cooperative model.

I decided to go with black and white images in hopes to make them  a bit more “dramatic”.

Here’s what I came up with:

In this first image I brought the clarity slider down to the left (something i never do) and then added a bit of  contrast.  I felt that seemed to give the image a bit of “moodiness”  with Kota’s eyes being closed.

The next image I kept a bit more clarity giving her fur a little more detail.  I chose slight “profile” images as they seemed to work better with enhancing the shadows more.

Thanks for stopping by!  Click on the following link and follow our blog circle to see some amazing images from pet photographers around the world! Next up is Rochelle with Dark Sapphire Pet Photography, Nelson, New Zealand.  Enjoy your weekend!