Low Key Lighting

Just like with the High Key lighting, I googled and looked on YouTube how different people used Low Key lighting and how I might go about it. I then researched different photographers that use Low Key lighting to see what inspired me the most.


Nadav Kander:

Nadav Kander has done various different projects, varying from portraits to landscapes. His portrait shots and done in a studio and they are mainly of famous individuals. He uses a mixture of low key and high key lighting, and his low key lighting shots all look different as he has lit them differently.

I really like the lighting in the image above, as only one part of the face is well lit and the rest fades into the background. Even though you can't see all of the details of the woman's face, you can clearly see her eyes which I like, because you can tell a lot from a person's eyes. This is an interesting way of showing someone's personality and I want to try to do something similar in my shoot (showing the person's personality in a subtle and simple way).

This image is different from the previous one because it is more well lit and so you can see all of the features on his face. Both images are in black and white which gives an interesting effect, but they both look so different because of they way they are lit. I think, even though you can see all of the features on his face, he is not showing a lot of obvious emotion, and the only way that you can see it is through his eyes. I like how the studio lights are shining from his eyes which causes a nice reflection. I want to combine the ideas from both images when I take my photos.

Jonathon Oakes:

These two Low Key lighting images by Jonathon Oakes both really interest me, mostly because of the expressions on the models' faces. They have quite a simple expression but I think it tells a lot. In the first image, the man is resting his head on some form of netting and has a lost expression on his face, which leaves the viewer to create a story of what is happening. I like how the studio lighting is falling on his face- making only the front of his face stand out and the rest of the image fades into the shadows. When I take my Low Key lighting images I want to set up the lighting so that it does this to the models face.

The second image is very simple, with the woman just looking straight ahead but not at the camera. The lighting is similar to the previous image as it lights up her face but her hair and the rest of her body fades into the shadows. I love the expression on her face because even though it is very simple, it looks like there is a lot of emotion behind it. When I take my images I want to create something similar to this, where the model is showing subtle yet strong emotion. The lighting on this image is a lot softer than in the other image, and I think this creates a nice effect, and almost makes it look like a painting.

Final Images:

Myself and Will had the idea to cover India in glitter and make her wear a mask in the shoot, as she loves glitter and girly things. I wanted to focus on her face as this is what I had researched. India said that she was really insecure about her mouth and didn't usually like showing it in photos, but she didn't mind making it really obvious that she was showing her mouth. I liked the idea of emphasising her insecurities (as long as she was fine with it) and so thought it would be a really interesting thing to photograph.

These were a few of my favourite shots from the shoot. I like the lighting in the images as the background is really dark but the glitter on India's body stands out.

We brought glitter gel and the mask to the shoot, and asked India to decorate the mask herself so that it would be more personal. She was wearing a plain top but lowered it below her armpits so that we could decorate her body with glitter and the clothes would not show in the shot. India was really easy to work with and came up with most of the poses herself, and shooting her was not at all awkward.

We did do a couple of shots of Alex and his toy Kermit the Frog, but this was only because we didn't know what else to do for him. I knew that I would just use photos of India because I didn't think I could create anything interesting with Alex. However, here are some photos that we took:

We used the same lighting as we used for India but we told him to stand up and just pose with Kermit. This relates to some of my practitioner research for the High Key lighting as it is very laid back and fun. I don't think the photos work well though and that is why I just want to use the photos of India.


Final, printed images:

I did not heavily edit the images before I printed them. The last image was in the style of Nadav Kander as it is in black and white and only part of the face is well lit. However there is my own style added because of the glitter and the fact that it is not just the face that is in the shot. 

I like the first shot because of the pose that India is pulling and the mask that she is wearing. The lighting is effective because it hits one half of the mask and then the other half fades into the background.

Overall I am really happy with this shoot and think I got some successful images. I think I edited them the right amount because too much editing wouldn't have made them look effective.

Evaluation

I really enjoyed doing this shoot, almost as much as the High Key shoot. Coming up with the idea was quite easy as India suggested that she should be covered in glitter and the fact that she was insecure about her mouth. She was really cooperative in the shoot and I found it incredibly easy to photograph her. Alex was also easy to photograph, but neither me or Will could come up with an idea of what to do with him, and so I thought it would just be easier to use two photos of India for my final images.

I think there is a clear link between my images and the photographers I researched, as in the photographer's research you can see subtle emotion in the models' eyes, and I think I've done the same in my images.

I like how one final image is in black and white and the other is in colour, so you can see the difference between the two. I left the top final image in colour because you can see the whole of the top of her body and so I wanted to define the glitter. I also wanted to define the colour of her mask, which she decorated herself. The image in black and white is successful because half of her face is well lit by the studio lighting, and then the other half fades away into the background, making it look like a shadow and making the image look more mysterious.

When I printed off the images, the one in black and white was quite a bit darker than I expected so you have to look quite closely to see the details on India's face. I like this mistake though, because it means that the image is more personal, as you have to spend more time looking at it.
Printing all of my final images went smoothly and I din't have any problems with it, which was really good as I had some problems with printing my Zine project.