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Images such as the example in this question aren't primarily about the post processing - they're about lighting the scene to get the look you want when shooting it. There are no real post processing "tricks" to take a high key portrait and make it look like a well lit low key portrait. Nor are there any "tricks" to take a low key portrait and make it look like a well lit high key portrait. Things that can be effective in post processing, such as killing the ambient are still dependant upon the light in the scene being in the proper ratios. You can't kill the ambient in post on an area that is brighter than the subject you wish to remain illuminated, at least not without doing a ton of very time consuming masking and layering that will make the whole thing look a lot worse than if you had just shot it correctly in the beginning.