Page 19 - Silver Lakes September 2021

PHOTOGRAPHY 101

dark background (shadows) behind the
subject.
The camera settings I use are Manual
Exposure or Aperture Priority as my
shooting mode, with Spot Metering or
Evaluative Metering with a low ISO of 400
to 640. My preference, though, is Manual
Exposure with Spot Metering and an ISO
as low as possible. As with the technique
that Brendon employs, I keep my aperture
as wide as possible at F/4.0 or F/5,6 and
adjust my shutter speed to regulate the
exposure of my image. By using a faster
shutter speed I am, in effect, under-
exposing the photo and thereby creating
the dark background in the shade behind
my subject. Ideally, I want to be 2 stops
under-exposed.

This is what a histogram should look like
for a Low Key photograph. Most of the
area is occupied by dark tones, so the
histogram shifts to the left side for a Low
Key image.

Sable Antelope Bull

Getting a Low Key photo is as easy as that.

Follow these easy steps, keep your eye on
the histogram and you will soon be taking
your own Low Key shots.

Slender Mongoose Speckled Pigeon

INTRA MUROS SEPTEMBER 2021 17