How do I create a low-key portrait outdoors in daylight?
Asked 7/22/2015
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I want to make a low-key portrait outside during the day. My attempts gave me a bright background even when shooting at f/33, 1/250s, ISO 100 with a Canon 7D and speedlights. How can I get a darker background and still light the subject properly?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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It's a common misconception that "low key" means "lack of light". This is not true. "Low key" means the vast majority of the tones in the scene are darker than middle gray and is independent of illumination. For instance a photograph of a dark skinned man in dark clothing against a black wall would be very low key even if photographed in broad daylight. I did not take this photo but it is low key and i doubt the hippo was in a cave. low key hippo pic. Underexposing a scene in an attempt to make it low key is a another common mistake. Low key is much more about choice of subject matter than illumination or exposure.
If you're trying to create a dark background in broad daylight use a high shutter speed with your flash but again it's not necessary to artificially remove light from the scene to make it low key. Think about the subject.
Originally by user38877. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user38877
11y ago
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Low-key does not simply mean “shot in low light” or “underexposed.” It means most tones in the image are dark. Outdoors in daylight, you can create that look by controlling both ambient light and flash spill.
Start by underexposing the ambient light so the background goes darker, then use flash to light only the subject. In practice:
- Use the lowest ISO and your maximum normal flash sync speed.
- Reduce ambient exposure by a few stops.
- Add flash power to bring the subject back up.
Just as important: keep your flash from lighting the background. Move the subject farther from walls, trees, or other nearby objects, and aim/position the flash so it lights the subject but misses the background. Because flash falls off quickly with distance, a background much farther from the flash than the subject will go much darker.
Off-camera flash makes this much easier, especially in bright sun. If needed, use stronger flash output or place the flash closer to the subject.
Also, f/33 is usually not necessary and may hurt image quality; background darkness is more about ambient exposure control, subject/background choice, and flash placement than extreme aperture settings.
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