B&W portrait w/contrasting skin tones

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Ry8n - 08 Mar 2004 16:31 GMT

Hi, I was hoping for some suggestions (i.e. filters or exposure
control) for photographing a couple with very differing skin tones.
How can I keep the lighter subject from being washed out or conversly
the darker from being underexposed when using various filters. I
couldn't find any previous posts on the subject via google. Thanks in
advance!!
-Ry8n

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Randall Ainsworth - 08 Mar 2004 18:58 GMT

> Hi, I was hoping for some suggestions (i.e. filters or exposure
> control) for photographing a couple with very differing skin tones.
> How can I keep the lighter subject from being washed out or conversly
> the darker from being underexposed when using various filters. I
> couldn't find any previous posts on the subject via google. Thanks in
> advance!!

Since the fill light determines your base density it doesn't matter
what color skin/clothing your subjects wear.

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zeitgeist - 09 Mar 2004 07:10 GMT

its called good basic exposure. If you have a proper exposure with
appropriate lighting then you should be able to photograph a black tux with
a white wedding dress and get detail in both, I don't believe any extreme
contrast of skin tone to be beyond that range.

Filters have predictable effects on exposure, its called a factor, A 2x
filter factor means open up one stop (cause you multiply the exposure by 2,
and each stop doubles or halves the exposure)

A camera with internal exposure, ttl etc, should be able to take it into
account.

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