Lighting for dark skinned people

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Submitted By: Rossimages

Joined: Dec 8 2006

Posts:

Lighting for dark skinned people

Posted: December 8, 2006 - 11:08am

I recently did a family portrait and the male was very dark compared to the others.Any suggestions on how to light him better with the others in the same picture? I am using 2 novatron studio lights with umbrellas.I have a third light I can use,but wondered what may be the best way to just light him better witout blowing the others out since they have light skin? I am using digital and do not have photoshop to just enhance him in the images.

Submitted By: Larry Berman

Location: Pittsburgh

Joined: Mar 7 2005

Posts:

Re: Lighting for dark skinned people

Posted: December 8, 2006 - 12:13pm

You're handicapping yourself if you don't have use of the Shadow/Highlight filter. It is available in Elements also besides Photoshop.

But getting back to your question, position the dark skinned person closest to the light source, or use a reflector for fill to balance the exposure on each person.