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Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 8th 04, 08:06 PM
bill harrison
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Default Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo

I have been asked by a friend to take 35mm images at his wedding rehearsal
and dinner.
The wedding is a mixed race wedding and I wish to know if I should set the
camera to
a +1 or 1-1/2 exposure due to the lack of control over lighting and setting
to account for
the difference between the light and dark skin pigments that will be
together in the shots
thus keeping some highlights in the fair skined while gaining some in the
darker skinned.

Help with any suggestions to improve the images would be greatly
appreciated.

To reply:
place ' harrison ' in front of the @ and remove the period between series
and 2000
--
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...LAUS DEO...
Share what you know, learn what you don't.



  #2  
Old February 9th 04, 04:43 AM
Randall Ainsworth
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Default Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo

If your main and fill lights are properly setup it doesn't matter
what skin color the people have.
  #3  
Old February 9th 04, 05:02 AM
zeitgeist
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Default Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo



I have been asked by a friend to take 35mm images at his wedding rehearsal
and dinner.
The wedding is a mixed race wedding and I wish to know if I should set the
camera to
a +1 or 1-1/2 exposure due to the lack of control over lighting and

setting
to account for
the difference between the light and dark skin pigments that will be
together in the shots
thus keeping some highlights in the fair skined while gaining some in the
darker skinned.

Help with any suggestions to improve the images would be greatly
appreciated.



A well exposed image should not have any problems with the relatively minor
differences in skin tone density between black and white skin. A well
exposed and lighted image should be able to show detail in a black tux and a
white wedding dress.

Black skin reveals bad lighting more than white skin does. That's why many
black people say they have problems when having their portrait done in the
typical studio where they put a couple brollies on either side of them,
specular lighting gives you specular highlights and you just notice the
problem more when they stand out more on dark skin.

Oh, and that tiny little flash built into your camera is the worst kind of
light.

Look at any department store catalog, look at the leather coats, shoes and
purses. Does the black shoe look like it got a radically different exposure
than the white shoes? Does the pretty white model look like she got a
different exposure while wearing the black jacket than the image of any
other item, not a bit.

How do they light black leather goods? the same as they do other shiny
items like electronic goods, coffee pots and other kitchen utensils. They
use a large soft light source. healthy and young skin is nice and shiny
like that too. All these items are lighted with a large source, twice as
big as the subject usually, and this spreads the highlights out so much that
you can see some detail in them, as opposed to blocked up specular
highlights. When you have texture in the highlights is when you have a
proper exposure for them. Get your light source large enough to do so will
spread the light out so enough light will get to the shadow side too.

I suppose you won't be bringing large scrims and light banks to the wedding
dinner, but hopefully you have a flash that allows you to aim it somewhere
besides straight at the subject. I try to bounce my flash off side walls
as much as possible, and that gives a nice soft light much like a huge
softbox as it bounces off a large area of the wall.

this reply has been echoed to the z-prophoto mailing list at yahoogroups.com


  #4  
Old February 9th 04, 08:38 AM
Mxsmanic
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Default Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo

bill harrison writes:

I have been asked by a friend to take 35mm images at his wedding
rehearsal and dinner. The wedding is a mixed race wedding and I
wish to know if I should set the camera to a +1 or 1-1/2 exposure
due to the lack of control over lighting and setting to account
for the difference between the light and dark skin pigments that
will be together in the shots thus keeping some highlights in the
fair skined while gaining some in the darker skinned.


No overall compensation is necessary. The main problem arises if you
have very dark skin and very pale skin side-by-side. However, this
problem exists in all weddings already to some extent, since there is
often a contrast between black attire and white attire (bride and groom,
for example).

Help with any suggestions to improve the images would be greatly
appreciated.


Use low-contrast film with lots of latitude. If you have the time and
material, try lighting dark skin with diffuse light, and light skin with
more of a point source(s), and light the dark skin a tiny bit more to
reduce contrast. That requires setting things up pretty carefully,
though, so it isn't likely to be practical outside a studio.

--
Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly.
  #5  
Old February 9th 04, 05:34 PM
KBob
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Posts: n/a
Default Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo

On Sun, 8 Feb 2004 14:06:28 -0500, "bill harrison"
wrote:

I have been asked by a friend to take 35mm images at his wedding rehearsal
and dinner.
The wedding is a mixed race wedding and I wish to know if I should set the
camera to
a +1 or 1-1/2 exposure due to the lack of control over lighting and setting
to account for
the difference between the light and dark skin pigments that will be
together in the shots
thus keeping some highlights in the fair skined while gaining some in the
darker skinned.

Help with any suggestions to improve the images would be greatly
appreciated.

To reply:
place ' harrison ' in front of the @ and remove the period between series
and 2000


Shadowless light sources are usually the best choice for very dark
complexions. You may need to create a compromise that favors this
form of lighting.
  #6  
Old February 14th 04, 01:00 PM
Timo Labrenz
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Default Help needed on a mixed race portrait photo

Mxsmanic schrieb:

Use low-contrast film with lots of latitude. If you have the time
and material, try lighting dark skin with diffuse light, and light
skin with more of a point source(s), and light the dark skin a
tiny bit more to reduce contrast. That requires setting things up
pretty carefully, though, so it isn't likely to be practical
outside a studio.


ACK. Probably don't need to say this, but if it's the classical Tuxedo
and white dress thing, take your 18% grey card for metering with you.
Makes it easier, IMHO.

Timo
 




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