Low key maybe? :) (3 sets of 3 shots)

[JeffieLove]

yes I am starting a new thread, so shoot me!

I feel like (even though I just bumped it up) the old thread has died and my reshoots won't get much attention sitting on page 3 there...

So, this thread is going to ahve a total of 9 shots in it... They are going to be 3 sets of 3... Each set of 3 will have (in this order) the original, the color edited, the b&w edited...

Group 1.

Group 2.

Group 3.

I metered off of the lower right corner of the shade of the lamp for exposure... Almost every time, it said I was at a good exposure (the line was under the 0)... I also used the histogram... There was a high peak at the left of the histogram, no clipping to the right and also pretty much flat other than the peak on the left (after googling images of low-key histograms, that was what it was supposed to look like unless google lied to me...) I played with settings, focal points, etc... I ended up cropping them all about the same though due to lights being in the way, light "blockers" being in the way... So, this is what I'm left with

HOPEFULLY Someone will be able to give me good news now

 

[JeffieLove]

anyone?

Are any of them at least minor improvement? :/

 

[er111a]

I like all 3 black and whites

 

[gian133]

i cant find the focus point in the second 2 groups. and i think the dof is too shallow in all three.
the lighting is pretty nice though not a big difference between them. groups 2 and 3 at least
i would deff say 1st group is the best, shots 1 and 2 IMO

 

[JeffieLove]

the focus point (because I stopped paying attention and was getting frustrated at this point ... shots 50+ of this reshoot) seems to be the top right corner of the glass part of the lamp in groups 2 & 3...

 

[MrRamonG]

What is your obsession with low key about?

 

[JeffieLove]

dominantly's school

it was the assignment for this week...

so far I've failed miserably and I refuse to fail

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Low key images are fairly difficult for beginners.
Don't become discouraged over this.
It's more important what you learn in the process.

So....What have you learned?

 

[JeffieLove]

I have learned that lighting is a ***** and even when you think you have it...

you don't



lol

in all seriousness: I have learned how to control my lighting and make it do what I want it to do, i've learned how to PP a little, and I've learned how to do custom white balance... i've learned how the settings work with each other... Wow.. all that in 2 weeks lol

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Lighting is a *****, and it's such a key player.
(did you see what I did there?)

I don't want to be one of those people who only use available light. I want to learn to control it!


I am saving up for triggers and another flash, so I can start playing myself. So many ideas...

So little freakin' time!

 

[JeffieLove]

heh - is it a matter of time? or a matter of money?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Both, but more about time and energy right now.

 

[JeffieLove]

Any other cc or opinions at least on which set is actually the closest to low key?

 

[shmne]

To start I am not a fan of how you are cropping the image. Clipping the bottom and top of this lamp isn't creating anything interesting to me, especially since with how interesting it looks I want to see more.

As far as the lighting is concerned, the glass pieces are creating a very harsh bright spot which needs to be controlled a bit more in my opinion. It looks like you are using a flash camera right and hitting it almost straight on.

I'd suggest getting a white board and bouncing the light off of that so that you get a bit softer lighting setup.

More importantly though low-key just means a darker image. A proper histogram for a low-key shot will differ from shot to shot, what is more important is that you do not rely on the histogram and camera settings but rather rely on your eyes. If the image does not look dark and contrasty than there is something wrong. Also remember that the camera will say that your exposure is ok even though sometimes it is not.

The best one here is the second image, try to mess around more with cropping the image so that you enhance the curves and imagery of the lamp better.

 

[JeffieLove]

thank you shmne I kinda liked the crop that I did on it, but I can definitely see how you would want to see more of the lamp

I will have to take a few more shots and see if I can crop it portrait so you can see more of the lamp...

On the first image, there is only about an inch of the lamp on the bottom that isn't there...

I did figure out how to get rid of that highlight on the glass part of the lamp... i put a shoe box in front of the bottom half of my lights... which got rid of that super bright highlight on the bottom... If you look in the 2nd and 3rd sets, that highlight isn't there but I'm not sure if the images look too dark or not...