High vs. Low Key

Back to some actual photography today.

This is an experiment comparing high and low key product-type shots.  DD's christmas ornament music box serves as the subject and the venue is the DIY light tent.  Nothing fancy with the lighting here, just the standard flash to the right, flash from above, both set on manual somewhere between 1/16th and 1/64th power.  The method I use to get the exposure right these days is often referred to as "chimping."  You manually set the aperture where you want it to control the amount of flash, set your shutter speed to control the amount of ambient light you want and then set the flashes on manual and guess at how much power you need.  Then the chimping comes in when you take a shot, look at the LCD and histogram and adjust from there.  Rinse and repead.

Question is, which works better?

High Key:  50mm, 1/60th of a second, f/8, ISO 200.

Low Key:  50mm, 1/60th of a second, f/8, ISO 200.

Lesson learned:  I should have tried increasing the shutter speed for the low key shot to see if I could eliminate some of the ambient light falling on the background.  This would make the post processing easier and less time consuming.

So which works better in this case, high or low key?

Comments

[Edwina]

Low key - white highlight (top half) can be distracting but is also interesting and points out glossy finish. High key - shows curves and detail more. More 3-dimensional than low key. (In my humble opinion.)

[emptynest]

I like the high key. There is less shadow on the ornament

[r-dean]

i prefer the high key as well. i think the highlight on the low key shot, distracts from the product.