#18--Am I on the right track?

slpollett

I've never done either low key or high key before. If nothing else, I'm bound to learn something this round. I've always thought low-key to be too dark & high key just never appealed to me. I wasn't even going to attempt this round because I didn't think I was interested in the topic. I've seen some awesome shots this round so I've had to re-adjust my thinking a bit, lol!!

Here goes...admittedly since I've never tried this before I decided to start by using the pre-set for low key or high key on my camera. I'll switch to manual once I have figured out more of what I'm doing. I have a flash attachment for my camera, but the only other lights I have are lamps and flashlights.

First try at low key. Am I even close?? I used a flashlight off to the side for this one. I'm going to call it "Low Keys" (lol)



This one is supposed to be High Key, but I'm not sure it looks High Key to me. I'm thinking I might like the concept, but I need to work it some more this weekend. Trouble is getting the darned cat to cooperate!! I'm calling this one "Cat and Mouse."



Obviously, I will need to re-shoot. Are either of these two ideas worth pursuing?? Any suggestions for me??

Thanks,
Sherry

angevin1

I think the first one is definitely low....and it is Key'd after all!:D

The second is probably close, but since high key often is thought of as the lighting difference between your background and the subject, in this case its hard to tell...perhaps with a less intimate foreground? or a little more of the background for good measure..but overall I like its intimacy.

I think you're on the right track in both~

cheers, tom

divamum

I would love to see #2 in bw or sepia with the exposure/brightness lifted as far as it can go without actually blowing it to distortion.... could be very fun to play with the contrast of those tabby stripes and both sets of eyes....

JAG

#2 definately has possibilities. I agree with diva that maybe a little playing around with it might help. Or a new shoot (if you can get that kitty to do this again) and see if you can get him/her to lay on a white table cloth or something next to a window from even more light. Or a flood light...but chances are the kitty wont like that kind of lighting.

slpollett

Thanks Tom, Diva, & Jag!

I actually did put the kitty on a soft white blanket. I used the camera flash bounced off a reflector and an overhead light without the shade. I tried to position each to minimize the shadows but (of course) that meant the cat had to position himself in exactly the spot I wanted him to be in. HA! HA! He kept moving to one corner of the blanket, much to my consternation! I finally got a little bit smarter about it all and put a touch of catnip right where I wanted him. Then my problem became one of getting him to be still. I won't say how many shots I took of him that I had to delete because Mr. Auto Focus doesn't work very well when the subject is moving!

Anyway, I really do appreciate the suggestions. I thought I'd post the unedited version (since I did crop it) and then another un-cropped version that I reduced the saturation on and tried to lighten it up a little more. I'm not sure I like it, so I'd love any additional suggestions you might have.

Since I learned the trick about the catnip (lol), I think I can re-shoot this weekend. I have a large window that get some good sun in the mornings, so I will try that & see how it goes too.

1. Original un-cropped unedited version


2. Un-cropped, but some editing. Like I said, I'm not really sure I like it. Maybe I went too far with reducing the saturation or maybe I didn't go far enough??




Just for grins, here are a couple of 'out-takes' from my little session with my kitty. I thought these were more high-key than the one I posted, but I found something wrong with each one--like composition not what I wanted or kitty moved (or I did, lol) so the focus isn't perfect. These are all unedited, btw.

3.



4.


5.



6.


Again, thanks for any suggestions and/or tips. I really do appreciate them!

Sherry

JAG

Gosh Sherry...that is such a cute kitty!! I can just here him purr! Yes catnip is good to keep them around but make em jittery!

I was wondering...just for playing sake...would you mind terribly if I played with the Kitty #3 image? I have never worked on someone elses picture unless they had asked me to...but that one just has some fun possibilities that I see when I look at it. I understand if you prefer I dont.

As for what you have done with the original...I like the original color best. I agree with the cropping now that I see you really didn't have much choice to crop it in tight. I hope your reshoot goes well. I like the concept you have going!

slpollett

JAG wrote:

Gosh Sherry...that is such a cute kitty!! I can just here him purr! Yes catnip is good to keep them around but make em jittery!

I was wondering...just for playing sake...would you mind terribly if I played with the Kitty #3 image? I have never worked on someone elses picture unless they had asked me to...but that one just has some fun possibilities that I see when I look at it. I understand if you prefer I dont.

Please go ahead and play with #3. I'm interested to see what you do to it!

BTW, this cat (I hate to call him a kitten since he's grown so much, but he is still a baby!) was one of a litter from a stray cat who adopted us last summer. We got too attached to him as a kitten and couldn't give him up. We named him "Cotton" because he was a solid off-white color & very fluffy. He's darkened up some as he's aged though. He is a TRIP!! He makes me laugh every day because ANYTHING in the house is a toy to him--our socks that he drags out of the dirty clothes hamper, shredded paper from our shredder trash bin, our feet that he grabs as we walk by, and yes--even the light from a flashlight or laser light. I wish I could get a good shot of his tail. It's like a peacock feather. I've never seen a cat with a tail that fluffy. One day....

Thanks so much,
Sherry

JAG

thank you Sherry. Here is what I did... First I resized then cropped to an 8x10. I went into levels and adjusted it so that the spike was on the right (which is high key). Then I popped the contrast just a tad. I removed what was left of the body portion in the background and then added a white mask layer faded to about 75%. I sharpened the eye. Its a little pixelated but that is from the low resolution that was posted. but you get the drift.

slpollett

Hey, thanks JAG! I like what you did! I will try it myself (probably tomorrow though). I'm not a great whiz at PS, but I do know how to do the things you did.

I'm going to meet a group of local photographers at the Texas State Capitol tomorrow. Our topic is 'Lighting--Inside and Out" so I'm hoping I can pick up a few tips that will help me with a re-shoot. If I can put your tips together with their's, I might be able to come up with something before time runs out on this challenge!

Thanks again,
Sherry