Studio light for super dark complexion

[Pukka312]

I've been asked to shoot a very dark girl in a cream colored wedding dress, and am using a studio environment so I will have control of the lighting...but I'm really rusty on my studio lighting. I haven't touched a strobe in a year and a half, so I'm going to be honest-I'm nervous. The shoot is more for fun, so it's not a job that's going to be high pressure, but I would rather do a great job than just "ok". It was stressed that the girl is extremely dark. I am just wondering the best way to meter the scene with such high contrast between skin and dress. The studio I'm using has 2 backdrops...black or white. I'm guessing the white background will be best and then wonder if I should try to shoot it high key, or maybe not light the backdrop at all to try to get a gray background.

Ideas? Suggestions? I don't even have a good idea on what look they are going for, but I'm anticipating they are looking at it as a fashion shoot. I get more details tonight but the shoot is tomorrow, so it's not a lot of time to figure out concepts. But mostly, I'd just like ideas on the most flattering way to light the scene.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

 

[Big Mike]

The way that I'd approach it, would be to decide if the photo is supposed to be about the girl, or the dress. If it's about the girl, then I'd go with a lighter background (similar to the dress) so that her skin/face is the area of greatest contrast. In this case, you might have to over expose the dress a bit, in order to get good exposure on the face, but with careful lighting, it shouldn't be too bad.
But if the shoot is about the dress, then I'd go with a darker background, so that the dress stands out. Don't go too dark, you don't want to loose her skin tones into the background.

The common problem when photographing people with really dark skin, is that there is a lot of 'direct reflection' in comparison to the amount of 'diffuse reflection'. In other words, with dark skin, you are much more likely to see highlights that are the reflections of the lights. If she can or will be wearing makeup, that can really help. Hopefully she (or a MUA) knows what they are doing, and can give her skin a less glossy finish, without looking unnatural.

As far as lighting for dark skin goes, the trick is to use the largest light source you can, and get it as close to the subject's face as possible. Because a face is round and the skin may be shiny (direct reflection), you won't be able to hide the reflection, they will be there. So rather than small, ugly reflections, you can spread the reflections out (making them look better) by using a very soft (large & close) light source.

 

[Pukka312]

The way that I'd approach it, would be to decide if the photo is supposed to be about the girl, or the dress. If it's about the girl, then I'd go with a lighter background (similar to the dress) so that her skin/face is the area of greatest contrast. In this case, you might have to over expose the dress a bit, in order to get good exposure on the face, but with careful lighting, it shouldn't be too bad.
But if the shoot is about the dress, then I'd go with a darker background, so that the dress stands out. Don't go too dark, you don't want to loose her skin tones into the background.

The common problem when photographing people with really dark skin, is that there is a lot of 'direct reflection' in comparison to the amount of 'diffuse reflection'. In other words, with dark skin, you are much more likely to see highlights that are the reflections of the lights. If she can or will be wearing makeup, that can really help. Hopefully she (or a MUA) knows what they are doing, and can give her skin a less glossy finish, without looking unnatural.

As far as lighting for dark skin goes, the trick is to use the largest light source you can, and get it as close to the subject's face as possible. Because a face is round and the skin may be shiny (direct reflection), you won't be able to hide the reflection, they will be there. So rather than small, ugly reflections, you can spread the reflections out (making them look better) by using a very soft (large & close) light source.

Thanks so much! I will actually have the make-up artist there, as she arranged the shoot. She made it sound like the girl would need minimal make-up so she must have a very lovely face. I am sure she will have enough makeup to help. Thankfully the studio has some very large soft boxes, so I plan on using them. Thanks again for the suggestions

 

[Studio7Four]

Without knowing some other criteria (size of the studio, number of lights available, etc), here are my best suggestions (supplemental to the fine suggestions Big Mike already gave):

You can get a white or a black background with either backdrop, it's just a question of the light output you're directing at it and the relative spacing of backdrop-subject-camera. Assuming you're planning to pre-stage the lighting before the subject shows up, if practical in the available setting you could position a backdrop light and just adjust the output between off and full as needed.

Particularly if shooting in RAW you could resort to compositing the image. You might meter so that you don't have an ideal exposure for either the dark skin or the light dress, but as long as you're not completely losing detail at either end you can play editing games. Obviously you'd ideally get an appropriate overall exposure in camera, this is just a suggestion in case that's not practical.

I don't know your makeup artist or her experience, but Mike made some good points about reflections. When the MUA says the girl won't need much makeup she's likely referring to such things as blemishes needing to be covered up. It may fall to you as the photographer to guide her to a light application of makeup for matting.