How to shoot/edit people with different skin tones?

[mrsrice22]

MODS: I'm not sure if this is something that can be done post or in camera, please move if necessary...

EDIT: I should add "in the same photo" to the end of the title, sorry!

I have 3 kids that range from porcelain pale, tan and dark and would like to know how to get a nice image without blowing out our daughter's face to lighten up her big brother's face and vise versa. Is this something that can be done in Photoshop? I've used the exposure brush in LR2, but it doesn't look right.

Here are a few images to show the different skin tones. I've yet to get all three together, but am doing family pics on Sunday so I want to make sure I can get us all on the same "level". I'm fair like Mikayla, my husband is about like Ryan (toddler) and our oldest is more tan with (unfortunately) some eczema. I plan on having him put on extra lotion on Sunday for the family pics or will try to smooth it out in post. I didn't attempt it in this photo.





nevermind her crying, lol, but you can see that she (and my legs) are pretty pale.




Alan & I

[srwatters]

Are you just using your in camera meter or do you have an external device? Exposure is exposure. To get the best results, I would shoot in full manual mode using an external incident meter. Bracket your exposures shooting 1/2 stop in either direction to get the best results. If you think you're going to have to adjust significantly in post, I'd also suggest shooting in raw to have the best quality starting point.

As far as adjustments go, you do know that in first two images you posted, the whites are completely blown out? If you don't have a calibrated display, simply sample the RGB values and you'll see they are all at 255,255,255. If you must adjust locally, then I like to use Nik Vivesa or Nikon Capture NX. You can do the same with masks, but that's a bit more tedious.

Good luck, hope my suggestions help...

[thatsridiculous]

look into the zone system of metering - it will teach you how to get definition in highlights and shadows within the same exposure by spot metering then stopping up or down based on the ten 'zones' of light. also, shoot in raw. also, use an off-camera or bounce carded flash. also, when editing, pull back a bit on the black slider. a little goes a long way, and it will engulf and eat your mid-darks. play with curves instead to get the pop you're looking for. hope that helps.

[thatsridiculous]

btw - i just shot a very dark/light interracial couple if you want to see how the things i'm talking about work out together. engaged: eric and mallory Heather Mount Photography

[mrsrice22]

Originally Posted by srwatters

Are you just using your in camera meter or do you have an external device? Exposure is exposure. To get the best results, I would shoot in full manual mode using an external incident meter. Bracket your exposures shooting 1/2 stop in either direction to get the best results. If you think you're going to have to adjust significantly in post, I'd also suggest shooting in raw to have the best quality starting point.

As far as adjustments go, you do know that in first two images you posted, the whites are completely blown out? If you don't have a calibrated display, simply sample the RGB values and you'll see they are all at 255,255,255. If you must adjust locally, then I like to use Nik Vivesa or Nikon Capture NX. You can do the same with masks, but that's a bit more tedious.

Good luck, hope my suggestions help...

Thanks Scott. Yes, I'm aware of the whites in the first two. I had upped the exposure in LR2 to lighten my oldest son and in doing so blown out the whites too much, that's when I tried to just use the exposure brush on him and wasn't very happy with those results either.

I'm not familiar with masks or metering but I'll look into it today and play around with it when he gets home from school.

Thanks again
Kristina

[mrsrice22]

Originally Posted by thatsridiculous

look into the zone system of metering - it will teach you how to get definition in highlights and shadows within the same exposure by spot metering then stopping up or down based on the ten 'zones' of light. also, shoot in raw. also, use an off-camera or bounce carded flash. also, when editing, pull back a bit on the black slider. a little goes a long way, and it will engulf and eat your mid-darks. play with curves instead to get the pop you're looking for. hope that helps.

Thanks Heather, I'll "google" that too! I do shoot in RAW and have tried playing with the curves on other photos, not sure why I didn't think of that for him, lol! I don't have an off camera flash, I was looking into it for xmas but they're out of our budget right now. I played with the black, when moved it to less black then my youngest looks "faded" but my oldest looked better, so I moved it back up just a bit more. Maybe with the curve adjustments and that will help.

Also, I've never used the on camera flash for fill flash. Would using that with a DIY diffuser help for lightening him up outdoors? I just made one yesterday though I'm not seeing that big of a difference when shooting around the house with it. What about adjusting the flash settings?

Thanks for all the info! I'll check your link now.

[thatsridiculous]

i would ABSOLUTELY recommend altering your light in any way you can. That will solve a lot of your problems. Zone system is tied to Ansel Adams and the old ways film shooters solved exposure problems before they had a handy dandy screen to tell them what their pictures looked like. Basically it sounds more like you're shooting in lighting conditions that are too dark and too contrasty to get full definition in both highlights and shadows at the same time. Try a DIY fill flash, then try buying a reflector ($12) and shooting just before sunset, with subjects backs facing the sun, reflect sun back into their faces from a 45 degree angle or so. (have a helper stand about 15-20 feet away from the subjects, move as needed. Light is key. No amount of post processing or curves or anything can really fix a photo that is improperly exposed in crappy light.

[thatsridiculous]

and i wouldn't waste time with bracketing/masking, expensive photoshop add ins. it all amounts to a lot of extra labor to correct a situation that could be fixed with a bit of fill light. reflecting is much cheaper, and easier, and you can implement it immediately. fill flash with a pop up diffuser will work in a pinch, but for your family photos, don't. here's a little about the zone system: The Zone System

[daveb]

Heather is generally spot on

If you expose the scene correctly then skin tones process out correctly ... if you put a darker person in shadow next to a transparent fair person (thank you for that on Bill Murray) then you have problems (not with the skin tones but with the setup and metering of the shot)

Don't subscribe the the myth of overexposing by 1/2 or more or lightening darker skin people (some will actually call you out on it) as well as underexposing lighter folks (BTW this is NOT what Scott is suggesting ... his idea of +- 1/2 and manual is just good technique for most everything you shoot)

Shoot it right ... the tones will be fine