African American Photos

[Jay Jay]

Got a question, the client actually got me thinking. There black and they asked me if I can do there wedding because there black and its difficult to take there pictures. i did not know this. is there some thing i should know, a way to take the picttures. what should i look for in setting. lighting, filters. any thing. please help. thank you in advance

[Jay Jay]

no comments

[Luis Caffesse]

It can be a bit more tricky due to the darker skin tone, especially when you have a woman in a white dress who is dark. Her face will inevitably be a stop or two darker than her dress.... this is already a problem when shooting white people, but it can be more of a problem when shooting black people.

It's just a matter of exposing properly though, like you would for anything else.
There isn't much to do other than that....

Honestly, i think it's funny that someone even asked you that.
It's really not that big of a problem (now, if the guy is an albino, and she's black....you might have somehting to worry about).
:thumbsup:

[Sirius_Doggy]

It is a little more difficult to photograph a black couple if they are both very dark skinned and both are wearing white. (Assuming you are shooting digital the trick is to take several closeup photos cropped tight on their faces and find the best exposure, then switch over to manual and try the full body shots.)

[Jay Jay]

thank you guys, some funny stuff but thank you.

[seejay1031]

I found that the most common mistake that folks make when shooting dark-skinned people is actually overexposing due to spot metering on peoples faces. The meter doesn't know what it is looking at, but it always assumes it is a standard greycard, therefore it is metering the reflection of light from an assumed greycard- this works well for moderately tanned people, but can be problematic when the person is darker (or lighter). The cameras meter will look at dark skin and try to make it read at a greycard level, which results is overexposure and loss of detail in anything white, such as the dress. The key, as I see it, is to recreate the natural skin tones, therefore metering with a handheld incident meter (the type with the dome that you hold up to the subject to meter ambient light, not reflection of skin that doesn't fall within a greycards range) is the best way to determine exposure. I hope this all made sense and I can elaborate on specifics if anyone needs it.

[Jay Jay]

Ok guys, thanks for the tips. I did not want this thread to become a racist post. I asked a serious question because i needed help. I dont care if your black, white, blue, orange or whatever you are. have some sense of humor. Im sure no one here meant to be racist. please dont take this post as a negative post. i really need help knowing how to get a good shot of people with dark skin. it can even be a white person with a realy bad tan. so if anyone can help, i thank you for that, other than that i did not see any racist comments in this post. seejay1031 thank you for the tips. echarelle im still intrested to hear thos tips if you wil lplease. thank you so much.

[MattC]

Listen Folks, this is the first time I've ever used my mod powers, but if this kind of stuff keeps up it wont be my last....

I'm leaving the thread alone for now because I feel it contains some valuable information. Let's leave it technical (as everyone since our new member here was).

Matt

[seejay1031]

Nah, it's sad that internet has made it possible for way too many idiots to freely speak their "mind"...

All to true, but this should serve as a reminder that we don't always know that our precious dvxuser is being used properly. The next time someone accuses racism or homophobia, or anything of that type, maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge (and ban) and try to see it through their eyes. Few are sensitive to discrimination, until they experience it firsthand. I would hate for a lot of people to think terrible things about this site that so many of us love, because remember each time that happens, we lose another (possibly) valuable contributor, which is exactly what makes this site what it is.

This site (rightly) prohibits personal attacks- discrimination is always a personal attack to anyone who falls within the discriminated group.

Thank You for taking the time to read this and now may we get back to being the film geeks that we are! :laugh: :laugh:

[MattC]

I didn't ban anyone. I didn't delete the thread. I censored one post which I felt was inappropriate, and will take up the rest off-board. But please do me a favor and lets keep this on point. It is a valid topic, but I expect that as professionals, or those aspiring to be professionals, that you will handle the topic with a level of maturity and professionalism befitting a member of this community. If not, I'll yank the thread.

I have faith in you guys, please don't prove me wrong.

Best,

Matt