Studio Photography - Low Key Unit 25

                In the studio low key photography is used to create darker, sombre and sometimes even more menacing portraits for dramatic effect and this can quite often be achieved by the use of one key light with either a carefully controlled fill light or just the use of a strategically placed reflector. Ideally shot against a dark background you are looking to produce darker tones and shadows to try and add some atmosphere to the image and although traditionally used with male subject matter it can be used to good effect in certain female modelling assignments but that's down personal choice and what you are hoping to purvey. 
                When it came down to selecting an iconic image as an example of what we were looking to produce within the studio I thought it would be easy, but the reality is it took me quite sometime to root something out that I was happy with before eventually settling on this one of Robert De Niro by Hedi Slimane a French born fashion designer who now works as a photographer capturing the likes of Pete Doherty and the Berlin club scene so I wont say any more about him as it is this image I'm really interested in.

Robert De Niro by Hedi Slimane

             Shot against the typical black backgound, I feel this to be a classic example of a single light source being used to full effect to create the shadowing down the left hand side of the face yet allowing the light to pick out the finer details that we associate with the man himself. Again, I presume there to be a subtle use of a reflector to bounce some of the light back so that all not all the features down the darker side of his face are left in the shadows. Classic suit, rugged features and strong hands all define him as an iconic figure yet the lack of eye contact suggests he's not to be taken for granted and what you get as a photographer is what HE wants to give you. I could of course be completely wrong about  all of this but as with any image it is down to the viewer to take from it what he will and see what he wants to see, because if we all agreed about everything, then the world would be a pretty boring place. 

                    So to find out how we went about trying to produce a similar sort of darker more serious image, we set the studio up as below with just a single light source, dark background and reflector as required but with the light shining through two black polyboards to reduce the spread.

                                                

                                     
                       In general low key photographs should have a darker tone and contain plenty of dark areas but you also try to highlight the contour lines of your subject which is where a controlled fill light or reflector and the key word here is controlled as a 1:1 ratio from say the front, may make your image too bright for your desired effect.

f2    ISO100     1/30s

The above image was one of those taken during our early studio sessions and I chose not to use it as my final  submission for the studio brief because I wasn't happy with how the light hadn't caught enough of the face to show at least one eye but it was early days and I think we were all a bit edgy and a little apprehensive about moving things around that had previously been set up by John.   I didn't necessarily feel it's a poor image but more that I thought I was capable of producing something better in a more relaxed studio atmosphere so I decided to use the one below from the tail end of a reshoot I was able to do when Mina had booked the studio and let me borrow her model. 

                                                                                                            

f9   ISO100  1/100s  @50mm

                  The initial set up included 2 soft boxes but I'd decided to switch one off and move myself round at about 45 degrees and concentrate the focus on the eyes. I'm pleased with this shot as the catch-lights came out really well and the single softbox has given it a softer light which compliments the rather contemplative type of pose.