Shooting dark skin ppl

[jairoscz]

Hello all,
I'm going to be taking some outdoor portraits this weekend this weekend, however I'm a little concerned as I have never shot black/dark skin people and was wondering if there were any tips and/or heads up I should be aware when shooting dark skin people.

This is my first time and was basically wondering if the metering should be done normally or if I had to over expose the images a tad (1/3 or 1/2 a stop)?

Thanks in advance! :)

--
Jairo

[Wes]

I tend to overexpose a bit in order to bring out the highlights in their skin.

One of the more challenging photo shoots that I did was of an interracial couple. She was VERY fair skinned and he was VERY dark. Lots of photoshop happening in that one.

[PearlMoon]

Originally Posted by jairoscz

I'm a little concerned as I have never shot black/dark skin people and was wondering if there were any tips and/or heads up I should be aware when shooting dark skin people.

Thanks in advance! :)
--
Jairo

Good question....I'm interested in tips and advice as well. My daughter (fair-skin) is married to a black man who is very dark. My grandson's skin color is somewhere in between...like caramel.

Getting the exposure right is always a worry when I take family pictures of them together.

I am also friends with a black couple who have a new baby and they ask me to take pictures of them from time to time. They are all three fairly dark-skinned. Last time I shot them, I did it outdoors in natural light and used a little fill-flash. They came out kinda O.K. but I wasn't real pleased with them.

[daveb]

That 1/2 to 1/3 stuff is a myth... Expose correctly for the conditions...
(the only exception that I have is with Indian people who WANT to be exposed a bit lighter ... same goes for some Asian Folks) ... otherr than that I make no exposure for mixed couples where one is verry fair... one is very dark ... I do expose for the lighter of the 2 more less

[brad]

Originally Posted by daveb

That 1/2 to 1/3 stuff is a myth... Expose correctly for the conditions...

Exactly. With a "proper" exposure, you shouldn't have to worry about +1/2 or +1/3 stops or whatever. Make sure they are lit with indirect light and use reflectors and/or fill flash to bring up faces and eyes... in other words, the same things you would do with fair skinned people.

[Paulo]

My co-worker had asked me to take some family photos for Christmas a few months back. I think it really depends on what they're wearing and the background you intend to included. I shot this with a Nikon N80 SLR loaded with Fuji Pro 160C w/ fill flash. I just did some very light tweaking of contrast to suite my taste but for the most part, I just relied on matrix metering to meter entire scene.
Of course, I believe these factors also came into play:
cloudy/ overcast day
various neutral colors found in background & clothing
skins tones varied from one family member to the other
pure dumb luck on my part

[carrbowl]

I have shot them alot and by no means am an expert. But the biggest problem I have is when using a flash, they get "hot spots?" I guess that would mean I am overexposing? but it is very easy to get shiny spots on their faces...Good luck and pray your computer works for post processing...then again...pray things go well and you don't need pp!!!

[carrbowl]

here are some examples of my mistakes!!! Both taken within 30 minutes of each other late in the day and believe it or not, the one on the right was taken first. Heres some good photos on what not to do next time!!!! I'm sure I'm the only one with some of these!!!

[Dsheree]

I haven't read through the responses....but proper exposure is the key.

[jairoscz]

cool, so it seems to me that everyone agrees that proper exposure is the way to go. Thanks a bunch for the responses, wish me luck! :)

[Daylon]

I hope you don't mind - Tried a little tweaking in Lightroom, then a pass from Noise Ninja. Still have hotspots on the foreheads (I'm not good enough in PS to take them out) - but I think this would be an "acceptable" picture.. I'm not sure if you'd want the background perfectly exposed - right now it looks a little like a studio backdrop.. Did this on an uncalibrated laptop but just wanted to see what I could bring out...

D.

[carrbowl]

Of course I don't mind...when I get to be perfect...then I'll mind!!! It looks tons better. Unfortunately I don't do much PP. That's something I need to start doing more of...it will improve my work .....I think!! ??? Too bad you didnt' do that before the Christmas cards went out last year Of course getting the exposure right the first time would be nice...if only it was as easy as they say...."just get the exposure right" well...isn't that the key to most photos??? (I don't mean that sarcastic...I mean that laughlingly...remember you can't tell my tone of voice with the words!!!)

[daveb]

Here is one from studio... they are pretty constant skintone...
the hotspot on the kid is from the backlight and will be taken out today ...

[prairiefire]

proper metering is the key to proper exposure.

The biggest problems shooting black people, or black people standing with white people, stem from using reflective metering, instead of indedent metering.

When we use reflective metering (the meter in the camera) we are measuring the light as it comes off the subject; it assumes some color cast. And, because a meter looks for mid grey, it tries to turn both the white skin and black skin gray.

If you use a hand meter and an incedend reading, it is not influenced by these factors. The light that hits the white face is the same light that hits the black face. As Doug Box would say -- "It's called a light meter because it measures light" meaning we should measure the light not the reflected light.

If you are going to use a reflective meter, the trick may be to meter off a gray card, not a face.

OK, now we have correct exposure. We're not done yet. The key then, is to figure out how to light the faces. (Where to put the light.)

Onn a white face it is the shadow that gives depth and dimension to the image. On a dark face, shadow and dimension don't always show. So, now the key is to add highlights.

Hope this helps.

sjh

[Paulo]

Originally Posted by prairiefire

proper metering is the key to proper exposure.

The biggest problems shooting black people, or black people standing with white people, stem from using reflective metering, instead of indedent metering.

When we use reflective metering (the meter in the camera) we are measuring the light as it comes off the subject; it assumes some color cast. And, because a meter looks for mid grey, it tries to turn both the white skin and black skin gray.

If you use a hand meter and an incedend reading, it is not influenced by these factors. The light that hits the white face is the same light that hits the black face. As Doug Box would say -- "It's called a light meter because it measures light" meaning we should measure the light not the reflected light.

If you are going to use a reflective meter, the trick may be to meter off a gray card, not a face.

OK, now we have correct exposure. We're not done yet. The key then, is to figure out how to light the faces. (Where to put the light.)

Onn a white face it is the shadow that gives depth and dimension to the image. On a dark face, shadow and dimension don't always show. So, now the key is to add highlights.

Hope this helps.

sjh

Great information Steve. Thank you for sharing. I've read similar statements before but I'm bad about remembering to apply that important information. I do have a grey card so I really don't have a good excuse for not using it.

jairoscz-looking forward to seeing your images.