i hope this is "low key" enough. i wish i could have had the advanced rules so i could have gottan rid of the distracting reflections in the main shadow.
post processing- started out in RAWShooter Essentials where i desaturated and pushed the exposure, fill light, and highlights contrast way up, converted to 8-bit/jpeg from there(which always seems to kill the quality a lot more than converting from tiff to jpeg in PS does...but i purposely did it because it made it really grainy), from there i went straight into neatimage and went a little overboard with it(made the grainy look more grungy), then i went into photoshop and just ran some levels, resized, and gave it a slight sepia kind of tone.
no dodge/burn or filters(unless you consider neatimage a filter)....i think the other problems(besides the distracting reflections) voters will have is that it may not be low key enough(im not exactly sure where the definitive line is to make something "low key") and they may think i did use a filter or something illegal.
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All in all, I'd agree with stdavidson: a worth-while image. The dusty shaft of light is particularly live and dynamic. I'm a little less content with the discernible Neat Image effects (edges of ceiling boards and support strut), especially in combination with sharpening (see the haloed outline of the photographer on the left).
Very nicely done. This is one of the best images in this challenge. The harshness of the bright light coming in from the outside coupled with the choice of sepia and inclusion of dark tones makes this a terrific composition. Bright outlines on a human figure is a classic feature of low-key images and there is no highlight detail inside at all. It is not immediately obvious why the model is holding their hands to their face and will distract some viewers.
Personally, I think I would have liked this better without the person in the photo. If I cover the person with my hand, I just see it as a stronger image. It's strong as it is, I just think it would be be better. I love the duotoning and how the rays of light expose the dust in the air.
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