Question on Photographing a Couple with VERY Different Skin Colors

[astrostu]

I'm shooting a wedding in a few days where the bride is Indian (India-Indian, not Native American -Indian) and the groom is a pretty pale white guy (they're friends, so I can joke about his paleness). Here's a link to their engagement photo (not taken by me). The dichotomy in skin tone doesn't show up very well in that photo except in that her skin looks fairly normal but his is blown out.

I was thinking that what I would try to do is to get the bride under a bit more direct light, have the flashes closer to her, etc. But otherwise, I wasn't sure if there were tips that folks have in handling this type of situation.

Edit: Here are two other photos I found of them - first, second.

 

[Plato]

I've had similar situations with friends and neighbors. PP with Lightroom-2 solved the problem for me.

 

[Big Mike]

It might help a little if he is put on the side furthest away from the light source, but that may not be possible in all situations.

Just be sure not to blow out his face, and you should be OK. As mentioned, a little tweak in post can help. Really, it shouldn't be any different than having to worry about a bride's white dress.

 

[astrostu]

Good to know. And since it's an Indian/Hindu wedding, the bride will be wearing red and gold, something similar to the photos shown on this site. The groom is "going native" and will be in the white traditional Indian clothing. So, yeah, her with dark skin and medium-tone clothes, him pale and in white/cream clothes ... should be interesting. Hopefully, though, it will be much less of an issue than I am worrying it will be.

 

[Big Mike]

I love it when brides wear something besides a white dress...but then the groom has to go and wear white :x

When in doubt, expose for the bride...she's usually the more important one