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Low Key Portraits: Take and Make Great Photography with Gavin Hoey



http://www.adorama.com

Low Key lighting is more then simply photographing against a black background. Join us in this episode as photographer Gavin Hoey explains the technique of a correctly exposed image that mostly learns towards the dark side.

If you shoot in a small home or portable studio, low key lighting is one of the best lighting styles to learn and this video will give you some amazing ideas to start you off.

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Photos by Gavin Hoey

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47 responses to “Low Key Portraits: Take and Make Great Photography with Gavin Hoey”

  7. Great video Gavin! One question though, in the first set up you demonstrate, the result includes a pure black background. I tried the ''exact'' same set-up but the background was blackish but not pure black. If i try to darken the blacks in lightroom as you show at the end of the video, the results do not come close to your shot. So my question is, how did you achieve this pure black background?

  11. I have watched this tutorial a few times. Im shooting for the first time a friend in a similar shoot. I dont have as good equipment, but I was able to get some ideas from this one. Thank you so much for taking the time to post these Gavin. You have always been one of my go to inspirations. Thank you sir.

  24. Great video Gavin. If I could chime in about the softbox being in the shot issue though; I realize not all of us have massive 70-200 or equivalent lenses and, admittedly, they may not be always ideal for small studio shooting. But – what they do offer us is a reduced field of view. As you know Gavin, and I'm sure as many of your viewers and followers will or have learned, is that when you change the focal length to a higher number (100mm let's say, over 40mm) your field of view also changes. It narrows, but offers you greater "zoom". Also, (not as important in studio low key shots) it compresses the background (bringing it closer to the model, but still maintaining separation with bokeh). The take away from what I am saying is that if you use a higher focal length your view will be narrower, thus taking your lighting nearly or entirely out of your shot. I use this method to get buttery backgrounds and crisp details in the face ( I love tight shots ) and also to save me time in post trying to get rid of things. I like my images to look as natural as possible, and even though I tend to bring my modifiers very close to my talent, I typically never seem to see them in my shots because I shoot at or above 75mm consistently.

  47. Low Key is simple once the basics of exposure are learned and this video should help beginners a great deal not only in how to do it by why. One element missing however for beginners should not be overlooked: a skilled model is a great aid. Fern's fluid rapid transitions between shots to a stable pose, and offering angles of interest, flexed joints and expressions are a very big contribution to a successful result and efficiency of a session. It is a useful expense for beginners to hire skilled models when learning, not only for their effectiveness in rapid progress in the process of shooting sessions but it teaches the photographer who is new to posing, just what works. That early success can be used by the photographer to help his amateur clients pose later. Posing is one of the hardest to master skills needed for photographers working with people shots. Many don't have the personality to connect with each client so learning early what works is well worth the modest hourly or day rate of a pro model.

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