So, this is going to be a tough one, also due to my own loosely advise to check
the histogram to decide whether your photo is low key or not. As Steve
(Stevebrot) pointed out, low key photography is not done by underexposing your
subject, but by making use of mainly side-light from one direction. Thanks Steve
for pointing that out again! It was also explained in this link I provided: Low Key Portrait Lighting Tutorial,
where a scetch of a lighting set up is included.

I will give some brief comments on all the photos, and in the end I will choose the
winners. All highly subjective, but I don't see another way. Major thing is,
however, that the photos have to be realy low-key....

Keith (Nomad) - nice photo, fitting the time of year! I guess it can be considered l
low-key indeed. I love the way the background pumpkins are fade away..... The
white light in the top is distracting though!

Tom (Ramseybuckeye) - moody photo, with great subdued tones! I think there is
not enough contrast in the photo to make it a great low key photo though.

Karen - very, very nice portait of Rocco (if I'm right?)! It´s your photo that
tempted me to say to check the histogram.... For a good low-key photo I think
the photo has just a bit too much light from the front.

Philippe - wow, this is a tough one for me! What do the tutorials say about
subjects forming their own light? Although it is a nice photo with great mood, and
nice dark tones, I don't think you could realy call this low-key....(correct me when
I'm wrong...)

Mike (MikeS) - nice attempt, and a great idea! Again a photo where the light is
included in the photo itself, but I think the pen and paper are lighted nice. I
would have liked the sharpness more on the pen though, to make the effect
stronger.

Mark (bbluesman) - great shot, and with your signature all over! Good low-key,
I'd say! It's not sharp, and composition - with the mans head in the upper corner
- is not according to the rules. Why do I love this one? The mood? Well done!

VaughnA - again a great moody shot, which qualifies as low-key, I think. Nothing
to add, I like the way the mysterious light comes through the door. Are you sure
this is back stage? I feel like being part of a creepy scene...

Tamia - wonderful shot, very good use of low-key technique. Nice detail too!

Privateryan - nice seasonal shot! Although the histogram is skewed to the left, I
am missing the chiaroscuro effect, with real shadows as the result of side light.

John (jheu02) - what can I say? If this not qualifies, what else does? Crisp, bold,
with nice inside lights. Well done!

Willem (wllm) - nice attempt Willem! Another one with the light source included,
but the low-key effect is clear in the standard and the light 'switch'. Good
example to show low-key is not underexposed.

Mummarazzi - nice portrait! You're right about the histogram, and what else can
be expected from a black cat on a black background . As with Karen her dog, I
think there is just a bit too much fill light to make it a real low-key photo. Next
time make use of (mainly) side light, and you'll have a perfect photo in this c
category!

Joe (jmschrei) - I like your attempt, although the light is still quite frontal. If you
would have been able to get rid of the reflections of the light source in the glass,
it would have been a very good one.

Dan (DanLoc78) - you knew I love guitars, you're cheating! Good use of light,
a proper and classic low-key photo. Great DoF, nice blue treatment too... Good
job!

VirgilR - first: great comment . Good attempt too, but you would have added
to the mystery is you would have closed the blinds at either one side of the room,
I'd say. And what's more important: that would have made it realy low-key, with
only one key-light.

Jan (JanVan) - very nice, although the subject is rather flat and the lighting can't
cause fat shadows. You didn't make it easy for yourself in that respect! All in all I
think you did a great job, but it would have been even better with the light on
the right side though!

Rob (robjmitchel) - nice, nice, nice! Sharp, bright coloured subject too! I think it's
proper low-key, although it's rather hard to see, because the pliers (is that the
right English word???) are placed under a 90 degr. angle: if we saw more of the
sides, it would have been better, and a bit more thrilling, I guess.

Clou - you left me puzzled. I just can't decide what I'm looking at....I that is what
I love . I guess it's low-key indeed. But somewhere this week you have to
reveal the nature of your model....

Iris - very nice shot, classic low-key, with strong side light! Nice detail, and the
mood fits the subject very good. Is he reading? The only thing I could comment
on is that I would see a little bit more high tones too, just to add some tension.
But as a non-portrait photog you did a great job, I think!

Jussi (Nesster) - nice! Good use of natural light, to get a low-key photo. The
shadows could have been a little more pronounced, I'd say, to add some
stronger effect.

And the winners of this weeks P52 are:

Honorable mentions: Mark (bbluesman) and Iris. Great job both, could have been
winners to me easily if only next three wouldn't have submitted theirs.... Well
done, congrats!

Third: Tamia


Second: Dan (DanLoc78)


First: John (jheu02)



Congrats Tamia, Dan, and John! Very, very good shots!
Let me say one last thing: everyone should check the name/location of the last photo

[KarenH]

Rense, you had a tough job to do, but I think you did well.
And yes you were right, it's Rocco.
Good to know the things you are telling here, storing that on my personal harddrive (aka brain ) and I'm going to practice with them, especially because of the darker days ahead of us.

Congrats on the winners and I really love that Kenwood tuner, like it's floating in the air.

[Iris]

Congratulations John, Dan and Tamia
These were my top 3 as well.
Thanks for judging Rense!

Tamia great shot, I loved your entry!

[wllm]

John, Dan and Tamia congratulations, a great Top 3!
Rense thanks for your comments, despite of the low-key it's a little bit brighter now.

[DanLoc78]

Thanks for 2nd! Rense, great job judging. P.S. you might see a guitar for the red theme too...although you won't be judging, darn!

Congrats John and Tamia!

[jheu02]

Rense, thanks for the nod. I didn't envy your position of having to judge this one. I did take a bit of time with the setup and foil around the light source to direct it toward the name, so I'm glad it was worth it. Thanks also to Stevebrot for pointing out that extra bit of info on low-key lighting. That's when I decided to take the extra time with "precise" light placement.

Congrats also to Dan, Tamia and all the rest who participated, since we all benefit by looking at each other's work and getting out of comfort zones every now and again.

Looks like my "red" is just for inspiration now...make my job even tougher with even more excellent entries than we have already.

[Tamia]

Wow, thanks Rense! There were such good entries that I didn't think I had a chance of placing. Thanks for judging, and congrats to John and Dan. And thanks to everyone who participated. Super shots!

[JanVan]

Rense, thanks for the extensive judging and congrats to John.

One question remains

Clou - you left me puzzled. I just can't decide what I'm looking at....I that is what
I love . I guess it's low-key indeed. But somewhere this week you have to
reveal the nature of your model....

[bbluesman]

Good contest-glad to see all the interesting interpretations of the theme. Well done everyone. Good job judging and nice work John, Dan and Tamia. Thanks for the hm.

[jmschrei]

Well done Rense in judging a tough line up. I struggled with this theme but learned a lot and hope to explore it more which is, I suppose, the ultimate goal.

Congratulations to all the winners. John, Dan and Tamia all offered awesome entries!

Lots of great inspiration here overall.

-Joe

[Clou]

Rense, thanks for judging and kudos to the winners and everybody who participated. There are many interesting concepts.

Clou - you left me puzzled. I just can't decide what I'm looking at....I that is what
I love . I guess it's low-key indeed. But somewhere this week you have to
reveal the nature of your model....

I think I better do it now to end any speculations.

If you look on this picture:
Datei:Europ. Patentamt.jpg ? Wikipedia
you see a structure in the middle of the place. The picture was taken on the far end of this long structure.

I have three versions of it, I start with the brightest one.

On the top you might see a bit of the flash.

A little darker and closer.

You see the lighting a bit better than in the version I posted.

The contest version.


I let you guess a bit more on the technique.

It was fun

[Rense]

Wow, I'd have never guessed that! And I have no clue whatsoever how you did it....

[DanLoc78]

I let you guess a bit more on the technique.

It was fun

Set blacks to 99 using lightroom?

[Clou]

Nope.

It was a night photowalk as indicated in the original posting.

All you need is a wireless flsh pointing down.

The structure has a conical section with some sort of canyon for the water.

[DanLoc78]

that's actually exactly as i shot mine clou. but i did apply a little bit of blacks in lightroom.