A Low Key Drama

You may be shooting against the light, but there will be situations in which you can use large shadows to create drama.

Low key images have predominantly darker tones. In backlit situations, this occurs when the subject is directly lit, but a large part of its surroundings is in shadow. One would usually see this in the morning or afternoon, as that is the time when one can see a large difference in bright and dark areas. In the night, you can make use of streetlight for similar effects. Low key backlit photographs are common to find in the monsoon as well, at a time when the sun has just moved from behind the clouds. Sunlight often falls on only a small part of the frame on such occasions.

Due to dark tones and shadows, low key tends to works well in black and white. Exposure: 1/500sec at f/8 (ISO 200) Photograph/Komal Gandhi

How to Achieve it
Once you have found your backlit subject, see that it is not directly in front of the sky but rather closer to the ground level. For instance, find a sunflower that is backlit but has shrubs, branches or even tree trunks in the background. Experiment with a – ve value of Exposure Compensation until the background is sufficiently dark.

This article originally appeared in the July 2014 issue of Better Photography.