https://learn.theunraveledacademy.com/course?courseid=low-key-black-white-creative-practice

Low key photography is all about mood and drama… and creating visual interest with the use of nothingness. I feel like low key photography and I have a lot in common. The first thing I had to know, right from the get-go, when looking into low key photography is: “What the hell is high key photography?” If there is a low version, there must be a high version too… and thankfully for all of us– there is! They are, as you would suspect, complete opposites.

High Key vs Low Key Photography
The absolute best description I found while going down this rabbit hole was this: low key photography is all about secrets and high key photography is all about being out in the open. Low key is not just about embracing shadows but visually telling a story within the shadows, where high key is all about telling a story with light. If none of that shit makes sense– just know that high key images typically embrace a lot of white, where low key images embrace a lot of black. That’s about as simple as we can get. If you are still overthinking it… you gotta stop. Creative Practice is about getting your hands dirty, not about complete mastery of a subject.

Lighting is Key in Low Key Photography
If you are on auto-pilot when it comes to creating at sessions… I am so excited for you to dive into this practice, because all of your old ways are going to fail you. That pretty light you’ve come to know, love and embrace for every session you do? She’s dead and she’s been replaced by blinding harsh light that will bring out every impurity in your face (heads up: if you are wildly insecure about your skin– might I suggest not trying to create a self-portrait for this practice… I learned that one the hard way). When you get into creating with low-key photographs, you have to be insanely intentional with your light and you have to be in control of every aspect of your light!

SOOC vs. Edit Heavy
This is strictly my opinion… but I truly believe this exercise is 100% easier if you focus on creating a low-key image straight-out-of-camera versus trying to bring the drama to life in post-processing. It can be absolutely be done– I don’t want to discourage you from doing your thing… but I do believe that if you create a setup that is pretty obviously dark and moody before you even pick up your camera– you will thank yourself later.