Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
Jeffrey Smith wrote: I don't do formal portraits, so the lighting is the way it is. I respectfully disagree, Jeffrey. The light _source_ may be what it is, but what you do after that makes a huge difference to the quality of the portrait. You may have the sun coming in through blinds on one side of your classroom. You can position your subject closer or further from the window and that will affect light fall-off across their face or body. You can have them face the window or away from it, or any angle in between. If you have them turn their back to the window then position a large white board behind you to bounce soft light into their face, you can get a gorgeous backlight to define their hair and flattering even light to illuminate their features. Do that but have them face 45 degrees to you and you'll get some side light as well. Even a little fill flash from a mini softbox like Walt's will improve the look in a windowless room with overhead strip lights. Fight the crappy light, Jeffrey! :-) On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 10:20 AM, Jeffery Smith jsmith...@gmail.com wrote: I don't do formal portraits, so the lighting is the way it is. ;-) I take a photograph of each of my students (75% are African American) on the first day of class, using ambient (lousy) classroom lighting and a fast lens. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 9:18 AM, Darren Addy pixelsmi...@gmail.com wrote: Virtually all of the answers so far have focused on exposure only and not lighting. I found this article to be very informative. http://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/archive/photographing-people-of-color The secret is to create lots and lots of highlights on dark skin. This can be done with reflectors or side lighting. From experience, I know that using a strobe from the side would also be very effective if a wedding dress was in the photo. The side light shows the dress in relief (which highlights and preserves folds and details). In fact, a single on-camera strobe is probably the worst way to show off a white wedding dress. On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 8:54 AM, Jeffery Smith jsmith...@gmail.com wrote: I adjust lighting accordingly (the meter reading will try to make them Zone VII) so that all of their facial features are clearly visible and pleasant. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 12:58 AM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It is discussed briefly in Light, Science an Magic. In short, either increase exposure, or take advantage of reflections. On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 10:31:14PM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Photography is a Bastard left by Science on the Doorstep of Art - Peter Galassi -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
You're right, Bruce. Too broad of a generalization. I primarily do street photography. I spent years fighting highlight versus shadow down here, getting chalk and soot results on Tri-X. Pretty soon, I just stopped shooting from 10-4 unless it was overcast (which I like the most). It does wipe out a lot of street photo opportunities, but the people are less sweaty. ;-) I also don't have to futz with lens hoods. These 4-petal hoods make me look so conspicuous, I might as well use a tripod too. It's good to be back on the list again (after a hiatus of the past 12 months or so. Jeffery On Jul 13, 2013, at 8:47 AM, Bruce Walker bruce.wal...@gmail.com wrote: Jeffrey Smith wrote: I don't do formal portraits, so the lighting is the way it is. I respectfully disagree, Jeffrey. The light _source_ may be what it is, but what you do after that makes a huge difference to the quality of the portrait. You may have the sun coming in through blinds on one side of your classroom. You can position your subject closer or further from the window and that will affect light fall-off across their face or body. You can have them face the window or away from it, or any angle in between. If you have them turn their back to the window then position a large white board behind you to bounce soft light into their face, you can get a gorgeous backlight to define their hair and flattering even light to illuminate their features. Do that but have them face 45 degrees to you and you'll get some side light as well. Even a little fill flash from a mini softbox like Walt's will improve the look in a windowless room with overhead strip lights. Fight the crappy light, Jeffrey! :-) On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 10:20 AM, Jeffery Smith jsmith...@gmail.com wrote: I don't do formal portraits, so the lighting is the way it is. ;-) I take a photograph of each of my students (75% are African American) on the first day of class, using ambient (lousy) classroom lighting and a fast lens. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 9:18 AM, Darren Addy pixelsmi...@gmail.com wrote: Virtually all of the answers so far have focused on exposure only and not lighting. I found this article to be very informative. http://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/archive/photographing-people-of-color The secret is to create lots and lots of highlights on dark skin. This can be done with reflectors or side lighting. From experience, I know that using a strobe from the side would also be very effective if a wedding dress was in the photo. The side light shows the dress in relief (which highlights and preserves folds and details). In fact, a single on-camera strobe is probably the worst way to show off a white wedding dress. On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 8:54 AM, Jeffery Smith jsmith...@gmail.com wrote: I adjust lighting accordingly (the meter reading will try to make them Zone VII) so that all of their facial features are clearly visible and pleasant. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 12:58 AM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It is discussed briefly in Light, Science an Magic. In short, either increase exposure, or take advantage of reflections. On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 10:31:14PM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Photography is a Bastard left by Science on the Doorstep of Art - Peter Galassi -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
I adjust lighting accordingly (the meter reading will try to make them Zone VII) so that all of their facial features are clearly visible and pleasant. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 12:58 AM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It is discussed briefly in Light, Science an Magic. In short, either increase exposure, or take advantage of reflections. On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 10:31:14PM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
Virtually all of the answers so far have focused on exposure only and not lighting. I found this article to be very informative. http://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/archive/photographing-people-of-color The secret is to create lots and lots of highlights on dark skin. This can be done with reflectors or side lighting. From experience, I know that using a strobe from the side would also be very effective if a wedding dress was in the photo. The side light shows the dress in relief (which highlights and preserves folds and details). In fact, a single on-camera strobe is probably the worst way to show off a white wedding dress. On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 8:54 AM, Jeffery Smith jsmith...@gmail.com wrote: I adjust lighting accordingly (the meter reading will try to make them Zone VII) so that all of their facial features are clearly visible and pleasant. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 12:58 AM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It is discussed briefly in Light, Science an Magic. In short, either increase exposure, or take advantage of reflections. On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 10:31:14PM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Photography is a Bastard left by Science on the Doorstep of Art - Peter Galassi -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
I don't do formal portraits, so the lighting is the way it is. ;-) I take a photograph of each of my students (75% are African American) on the first day of class, using ambient (lousy) classroom lighting and a fast lens. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 9:18 AM, Darren Addy pixelsmi...@gmail.com wrote: Virtually all of the answers so far have focused on exposure only and not lighting. I found this article to be very informative. http://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/archive/photographing-people-of-color The secret is to create lots and lots of highlights on dark skin. This can be done with reflectors or side lighting. From experience, I know that using a strobe from the side would also be very effective if a wedding dress was in the photo. The side light shows the dress in relief (which highlights and preserves folds and details). In fact, a single on-camera strobe is probably the worst way to show off a white wedding dress. On Fri, Jul 12, 2013 at 8:54 AM, Jeffery Smith jsmith...@gmail.com wrote: I adjust lighting accordingly (the meter reading will try to make them Zone VII) so that all of their facial features are clearly visible and pleasant. Jeffery On Jul 12, 2013, at 12:58 AM, Larry Colen l...@red4est.com wrote: It is discussed briefly in Light, Science an Magic. In short, either increase exposure, or take advantage of reflections. On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 10:31:14PM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Photography is a Bastard left by Science on the Doorstep of Art - Peter Galassi -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
On Jul 10, 2013, at 10:47 PM, J.C. O'Connell hifis...@gate.net wrote: On 7/10/2013 10:31 PM, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. For a black bride in a white dress, expose for the skin tones, and let the entire dress blow out white if it has to. It looks far more natural than the alternative. Good God, no! I've shot numerous black women and men in all manner of clothing. Expose as you would for anything else: with a correct meter reading. If white or black dominates the frame, use a grey card or incident meter to determine exposure. Of if you know your camera and meter well, you can dial in some extra exposure via exposure comp. That's true when shooting any scene where ark or light tones tend to dominate. No need to lose detail in the dress or make the skin overly dark if you know what you're doing. -- J.C. O'Connell hifis...@gate.net -- -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
It is discussed briefly in Light, Science an Magic. In short, either increase exposure, or take advantage of reflections. On Wed, Jul 10, 2013 at 10:31:14PM -0400, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- There are two kinds of computer users those who've experienced a hard drive failure, and those that will. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
On 7/10/2013 10:31 PM, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. For a black bride in a white dress, expose for the skin tones, and let the entire dress blow out white if it has to. It looks far more natural than the alternative. -- J.C. O'Connell hifis...@gate.net -- -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
Incident metering for exposure and a 18% grey card or a Gretag Macbeth Color Checker for white balance. On 7/10/2013 10:31 PM, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
From: J.C. O'Connell On 7/10/2013 10:31 PM, P.J. Alling wrote: I have nothing to share except that a mix of skin colors is nothing compared to a black bride in a white dress. On 4/20/2013 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. For a black bride in a white dress, expose for the skin tones, and let the entire dress blow out white if it has to. It looks far more natural than the alternative. Not if she paid $3k+ for a Vera Wang dress you don't. You better capture every frickin' tiny little detail! -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
How do you photograph dark skinned people?
Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
What difficulties are you trying to overcome? B On 20 Apr 2013, at 17:15, Bipin Gupta bip...@gmail.com wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. . -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
Learn to spot meter off the palm of your hand for a correct exposure. Useful technique for all situations where the meter can be affected by a scene/subjects tone. On 21 April 2013 00:15, Bipin Gupta bip...@gmail.com wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
An incident light meter is your friend here. Measure the light falling onto the face of the subject, and set your exposure from that (M mode). Group: assuming evenly lit, measure the light falling onto the face of the subject in the middle. For ambient or continuous light (eg CFLs, LEDs) you can use an inexpensive light meter. For flash you'll need a flash meter. These aren't challenging, btw. Challenging is when you add hair lights, rim lights, kicker lights, and have a mixed crowd, some with bald heads, oily or sweaty skin, etc. On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 12:15 PM, Bipin Gupta bip...@gmail.com wrote: Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
RE: How do you photograph dark skinned people?
From: Bipin Gupta Request please share resources for photographing dark skinned people. There is still a greater challenge, that of photographing a group of people with yellow, brown, white, black skin or every other races of mankind. Regards. Bipin - from that far away enchanting land. Take an incident light reading (light falling on the subject) and expose accordingly. If you're exposing for the amount of light that's illuminating the subject, their skin tone will automatically fall into the correct value. If you have them hold an 18% gray card in at least one of the shots, you've got what you need to neutralize the white balance. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
