Skin shades

[Kenneth Walker]

I was asked by my honorary step granddaughter (it's complicated) to drive her and two of her chums to their school prom. It seems the swanky car they thought they were going in had broken down, and my BMW was a better vehicle to show up in than her mum's old thing. Before we set off , I had to photograph all three of them, including Sylvia (see attached). They are all of differing hues, this young lady being the darkest. Any tips (though it's too late now) with darker skins....I've shown a work in progress here, so the crop and other aspects need looking at. I did ginger up her face a bit in lightroom (adjustment brush with a touch of extra exposure).

 

[Ysarex]

Bottom line: Not enough exposure. You've got to record more information than that. At 5 stops underexposed you're using 7% of the sensor's recording capacity.

To improve the color and tone rendition for this young lady's face you've got a data reconstruction job to do in Photoshop.

Joe

 

[tirediron]

Bottom line: Not enough exposure. You've got to record more information than that. At 5 stops underexposed ...

How did you determine that Joe?

For future reference, more light! I find that non-Caucasian skin ranges anywhere from +1/3 - 1/2 (most Asian), to +1 - 1.5 stops for African and Indian. If all else fails, use your pop-up flash and add a bit of FEC.

 

[Ysarex]

Bottom line: Not enough exposure. You've got to record more information than that. At 5 stops underexposed ...

How did you determine that Joe?

EXIF data for the photo. The camera is a Nikon D7000 (base ISO of 100). This photo was taken with the ISO set to 3200 -- that's 5 stops.

Joe

For future reference, more light! I find that non-Caucasian skin ranges anywhere from +1/3 - 1/2 (most Asian), to +1 - 1.5 stops for African and Indian. If all else fails, use your pop-up flash and add a bit of FEC.

 

[Kenneth Walker]

Thanks tirediron....always puzzled by that Caucasian stuff....I don't look much like the average Georgian, Azeri, etc. I'm Ibero Celtic myself, with a bit of Anglo Saxon thrown in; but I think I know what you mean . All a bit impromptu on this occasion....I'll be ready next time. (Proper Preparation Prevents P***s Poor Performance as they say in the mil.)

 

[Designer]

One thing from me; the window light in the background is throwing the meter off. Her skin tone looks pretty good to me, but needs more lightening in her lower face. Crop off the window.

 

[tirediron]

Bottom line: Not enough exposure. You've got to record more information than that. At 5 stops underexposed ...

How did you determine that Joe?

EXIF data for the photo. The camera is a Nikon D7000 (base ISO of 100). This photo was taken with the ISO set to 3200 -- that's 5 stops.

Joe

For future reference, more light! I find that non-Caucasian skin ranges anywhere from +1/3 - 1/2 (most Asian), to +1 - 1.5 stops for African and Indian. If all else fails, use your pop-up flash and add a bit of FEC.

D'ohhhhhhhhhhh... for some reason I thought you were saying her skin was 5 stops under. Gotcha'!