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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 62: Low light or low key (hosts: Victor Engel & Olaf.dk) >> Exhibition > * Lady in Red
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25-APR-2005 Lonnit Rysher

* Lady in Red

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
1/90s f/2.8 at 46.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 26-Feb-2006 22:35
Thanks, Shu... I needed that! {{{{{{{hugs!}}}}}}} ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge26-Feb-2006 18:37
Lonnit--Love you, love the image!! shu
Guest 26-Feb-2006 17:46
I understand all that, guys, and appreciate it. As you know, I'm not normally closed-minded to learning anything here. I'm the one always craving new info. The thing of it all is that right now I am going thru MAJOR serious issues with my children's school. We've got a spiteful, vindictive principal who is discriminating against my children. We were to a hearing last week, which took me a week of 6 hours a day in researching and preparing the case. I'm frantically trying to get some services for my kids and find them a new school, all while battling this hypocritical, unprofessional, %#%#%^. The stress is enormous! I've had my new 5D in the house for a week and had neither the time nor heart to open it up and use it until last night. All the joy of it was sucked out by the turmoil we're in. So, right now, my mindset is on using my camera as an escape - where I can shut off my brain and just enjoy what I see through the viewfinder. I don't want to have to "work" at anything right now. I was going to skip the challenge completely, but I decided to toss in a few things I had lying around - if they fit, they fit, if they don't they don't. I'll be out shooting today - if something happens to fall into the theme, it does, if it doesn't then it doesn't. But right now, I need a break from rules and regulations, research, and anything else with an R that means having to think. The only R I want right now is relaxation!!! So, please forgive me for being completely inflexible here, now; I'm trying to Recover so I can dig in this week and really get the ball moving on relocating the kids to an environment that will not be working against them, with a principal who is interested in seeing children succeed, instead of demoralizing them, tearing them down, and treating 7 year olds as if they are adult criminals, when they behave like 7 year olds. I'm completely out of patience. So, I'll learn the details of what all this low key and # stuff is all about at another time. Like I said, I do want to add it to my bag of tricks, however, right now, I've got neither the time nor patience.

BTW, as far as histograms go, I live by them when I shoot. To me the histogram is more important than the image when I'm checking the camera's LCD. So, it will be very interesting for me to learn how to finesse that histogram further to the left, without just making an underexposed image - which is something that was a consistant problem for me in the past. I used to constantly underexpose. I've now been able to get my histograms further to the right, on a regular basis. Now it will be a matter of learning to distinguish the histogram of a dark image, that should be heavy on the left, from the histogram of an underexposed image. I guess keeping the right side very low, but still extended virtually all the way to the right, would be what I'm looking for. And I did notice that in the low key images you showed, that a true low key image will not have any white space to the left of its highest peak. So, I guess I do have a grip on that half of the challenge. As far as the EV numbers - I don't even have the patience right now to even read those directions past the cursery glance I gave them. When things settle down here, I'll come back and figure out what that's all about - because, as usual, you've got to know the rules b/f you can break 'em. ;) ~ Lonnit
Canon DSLR Challenge26-Feb-2006 16:00
You consider yourself an artist, Lonnit, who, therefore, doesn’t need to know the theories (in your own understanding) ... You might be surprised, though, to find that practically *all* the widely esteemed artists in the history of mankind («representing what moved them», in your words) had a profound knowledge of the theories concerning the «technicalities» of their art. In the case of photography, *EV* is clearly a concept belonging into this context; and it won’t do you any harm as an «artist»—I promise—to make use of this challenge to learn something obviously new to you about photography, instead of struggling against stubbornly. — db.
Guest 26-Feb-2006 10:09
Lonnit I understand what you are saying perfectly. I hear you, but to have low-key on your repetoire, you must know or have a feel for what it is. My histogram analysis was just an attempt at learning something about what low-key is. I don't have the answers, I am in search of them. Comments have been added to that analysis, and I am glad. Discussing the subject (low-key) can only make us wiser collectively. Please don't be scared off by some histograms, they are an important tool in digital photography. Instead, please join in the discussion, what do you think is a low-key photograph? I won't let you have it the easy way (type: you tell me what to do and I'll do it)! Growth and development is never easy.
Victor Engel26-Feb-2006 07:52
Lonnit, I understand where you're coming from. And you can ignore the numbers and histograms if you wish. I'm providing the numbers for those who are confused about deriving them themselves. Also, since we have two hosts this time and two different (albeit similar) themes, the numbers are not just for you, the photographer, but also for my cohost. If your submission fits into my low light category, he doesn't have to decide whether to move a picture to pending because it's not low key. Finally, I find it interesting to see the variety of pictures at different light levels. For example, the current entry with the lowest EV looks almost like it was taken in broad daylight. Some of the brightest pictures are obviously low key. I find this all fascinating, and I'm learning in the process. Finally, when it eventually comes time to vote, some people may like to have a reference handy.

And, by the way, this looks to me like a fine low key example. Then again, I'm no low key expert. -- Victor
Guest 26-Feb-2006 06:07
Are you trying to kill photography for me? LOL! I don't care about the numbers. I don't care about the histograms. What I care about are images with feelings. If my submissions qualify, tell me. If they don't, then yank them out and I'll try again. I'm an artist - I shoot what moves me. Technicality is a tool that supports an image that can't stand on it's own emotionally. I'll be the first one to plead guilty to that. Seriously - I'll keep submitting - you guys just tell me if they qualify or not. I'll yank those that don't meet the tech qualifications and try again. If I'm going to have to play color-by-numbers, I just won't be an artist anymore and that takes all the fun out of it. I'm more than happy to play, I'm just going to need someone to police me b/c, frankly, the technicality of it just bores me. ;) I do, however, want to add low key to my repertoire - or however you spell it - so I'm going to need some help here. You can measure however you want - just let me know if I should leave it or try again. :) Thanks! ~ Lonnit
Victor Engel26-Feb-2006 05:19
EV is 7.5
Guest 25-Feb-2006 22:02
Try looking at its histogram after you've looked here:http://www.pbase.com/image/56510222
Guest 25-Feb-2006 22:01
Now, this I would definitely call low-key!