The dark side of life
by Bensted

Comment:
Nicely done.

Naptime
by MaryO

Comment:
This is a marvelous photo -- but it doesn't fit low key, imo. It looks more under exposed than low key. But I do like it, just not in this challenge.

her hat
by tvsometime

Comment:
Doesn't fit low key, imo. It's not really mostly dark -- it's mostly mid greys and the white hat isn't really a highlight. sorry.

His Lover's Rose
by patches

Comment:
This is more low key, imo than some of the other flowers. Mostly darks with a few highlights and things disappearing into the shadows.

Sunlight
by eniko

Comment:
Nicely lit. I'm curious as to where people will find this low key. The definitions I'm seeing is mostly dark with a few highlights. Perhaps if the greens and the stem disappeared more into the shadows?

I may be way off on this. I apologize if I am. But people were curious as to the reason for the votes.

in my sorrow
by RKT

Comment:
The face is really quite cool. I wish there was more contrast in this so it looked a little more deliberate and not like it was underexposed.

A Mother's Lament
by Ken

Comment:
I would have liked the face turned just a tad more this way. The lighting on the upper body is so wonderful, but the highlight on the face is harsh and makes the eye look a little odd. Maybe just a tiny tad of fill light on the front of the face?

Midnight at the Oasis
by banmorn

Comment:
There's something creepy about this. I like the lighting on the mushroom, but the grasses (or weeds) around it look artificially darkened. So it looks like there was an oil spill.

So I'm going back and forth between: "meh -- unnatural and forced" and "hey cool -- creepy mushroom scene.

Coming back to look at it later to see where it falls. :)

ok - 7

Still Life
by Alex_Petrini

Comment:
Another one that doesn't look low key -- just looks underexposed. I think this could have been completely fantastic if the shadows were let to go darker and the highlighted fruit was let to BE highlighted and just pop.

Will Model for Cookies
by SandyP

Comment:
I'm confused on this one. I hate to say it, but it's not my definition of low key.

It's hard to say it, because this is so incredibly beautifully done.

So I looked up 6-7 other places for low key definition. Mostly dark, heavy shadows, moody, dramatic.

I guess to me it would have been more low key if you hadn't lit him so completely. If the shadows would have been left to fall into dark.

And yet I hesitate to vote on this, because I could be wrong.

It should be a 9 for beauty, but it's a 6 for low key. (I should have just voted without leaving a comment, I think!)