Bobnewnan wrote:
I was asked to do some group pictures of my friends, in their home, over the holidays. I had a big problem with exposure, their darker skin absorbs light such that even with flood lights my ISO ranged up to 12,000. The group was large enough that I couldn't open the aperture and keep everybody in focus and the speed was down to 1/80. Other than more artificial lights, does anybody have any suggestions when taking photos of dark skin people. I don't have a release, so no examples of the results. One more thing, has anybody ever done noise reduction twice on the same photo? I use "Neat" and I had to do it twice to get a good shot. Any suggestions?
I was asked to do some group pictures of my friend... (
show quote)
Were you exposing for the skin tones or the clothing?
Goofy, at first sight, it was. I had instant nightmares. I took a deep breath and assessed what I had to do to get the exposures I needed to produce good photographs. The rest worked well.
--Bob
GoofyNewfie wrote:
Sounds lie a worst case scenario!
rmalarz wrote:
Goofy, at first sight, it was. I had instant nightmares. I took a deep breath and assessed what I had to do to get the exposures I needed to produce good photographs. The rest worked well.
--Bob
A student intern who worked for (usually against) me shot a similar wedding situation.
Knowing her skills, and I knew the bride as well, I told her she was in way over her head and that she should decline the gig.
She did it anyway and it did not go well at all.
Las Vegas area, D500, had two hot lights, not flood, compounded by dark paneling in the room. Thanks for the reply's, think I'll start pricing a good remote strobe. I love that Big Brown truck. I had the 5000 flash and should have set it up as a remote. Always a learning factor. Thanks for all the suggestions and comments.
Clothing and should have done the clothing. Gotta get a strobe if I keep doing this type of thing.
Goofy, yes a D500 and I'm going to get a speedlight. Had the SB5000 in my bag but didn't think I needed it with the hot lights. Should have done it with remote. The dark paneling didn't help. It's all a learning process and a lot different than BIF.
Thanks for the reply, more work is required, I can see that!
I agree and shoot in a lot of bursts. Gonna get some better lights and keep learning.
Thanks for the reply.
Bobnewnan wrote:
Thanks for the reply, more work is required, I can see that!
Bob.
It usually helps if you use the "Quote Reply" option as I have done.
That way we know which post you are addressing.
Cheers!
bkyser
Loc: Fly over country in Indiana
Bob, you have some great answers here, but let me add, your hot lights probably don't come close to the output of strobes. Remember this, if you get nothing more from this thread, Dark skinned black people, actually know they are dark skinned, and are not shocked when they look dark in the photo. aBe VERY careful of lightening the shadows, and changing their skin tone. In the African American community, it's insulting to make them look light skinned if they arent.
Personally, I would use a light meter with a strobe, and set your camera for proper exposure. The skin tones will be well represented, you won't introduce a lot of noise by jacking up the exposure, or boosting the shadows, and noone will be offended by the fact that you're "trying to make them look light "
Gene51
Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
I, along with another tog have th Photox 60". It's great for group shots Gene providing very soft light at an affordable price without it feeling cheap.
Great shots of some beautiful subjects.
Al
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