Low Key photography?

So I've learned that if I shoot with a high shutter speed like 1/350 with flash. I should be able to capture a low key subject without the use of a seamless black background. My problem is pumping up my Nikon D5000 past 1/200 with the flash attached. Is it possible to get the shutter speed I'm looking for (1/350) or should I start looking into upgrading my body. Or are there other alternatives to shooting in High and Low key without the use of a all white or black background?

In my honest opinion, there's no one set way to achieve low-key photographic results… You have to keep experimenting, trial and error and by reading books, watching tutorials and meeting up with other photographers that focus on that type of photography.

Every situation and location offers a whole new lighting setup… So, to say that all you need to do is set your camera to these settings is misleading.

SLR's have a traveling focal plane shutter and that design just does not permit high flash synch speeds. But most digital point-shoot will synchronize to much higher speeds. However most point-shoot will not take a flash attachment - This is where a light-activated slave flash might work.

But I would say that if you were not getting the results you wanted up to 200/sec then I don't think higher shutter speeds will make a difference - it might - depends on the background conditions and your flash.

With flash photography you are taking two exposures simultaneously in one frame, the ambient light within the picture and the flash light level.

It works like this

ISO effects both components

Aperture also effects both components

Flash power and flash to subject distance effects just the flash component.

Shutter speed effects just the ambient component. The shutter speed will always be (lots) slower than the flash duration.

You can see from this that to get a picture with a black background you need the ambient exposure to be black, small apertures, low ISO and fast shutter speeds.

Focal plane shutters as you find on a DSLR take time to travel over the sensor. They get their higher shutter speeds by releasing the second curtain before the first has reached the bottom of the sensor, so if your camera allowed any faster shutter speed during a flash exposure part of the sensor would not see the flash. The fastest shutter speed with flash is called the 'X' speed and varies from camera to camera and is usually within the 1/180th to 1/250th of a second range.

This can be a problem if the ambient light is too bright. There are two answers, one is to use a smaller aperture to the point that you get a black frame from the ambient at a shutter speed that is at or below the X speed. The other way is to use and filters which cuts down the light the camera is seeing. Both will require either an increase in flash power and/or using the flash closer to the subject.