biracial couple...

[txsnurse]

Errr I'm a complete nob who occasionally gets it right enough that my friends are asking me to take pictures for them. I do it for free because I enjoy it, but a good friend of mine has asked me to take some engagement/family photo's for her. I'm happy to, but am faced with a small possible problem. She is very (very) pale white, he's moderately black, his daughter is very dark skinned, and her daughter is a medium toned biracial so how do I set this up for proper exposure? I want to give them something they can enjoy looking at for a lifetime.

They want to take these pictures at the local botanical gardens, so I'm figuring evening time would give us the best light. I just bought a 430EX ll flash with a lumiquest softbox diffusor and I think the rest of my equipment is in my sig... I would be OH SO GRATEFUL for any tips, advice, and links that will help me with this.

Thanks in advance!

[tim]

I wouldn't worry about the skin tone, if they're dark they'll come out looking dark. Just do the usual, expose for the highlights or at least for the lighter skin tones, and stay in manual. I wouldn't use flash except as fill or if you're shooting them backlit.

[tintop]

nob or noob?

[jblaschke]

Make sure you shoot in RAW. If, after processing the image you find one or more of the subjects over- or under-exposed, process another image while adjusting the exposure to compensate. Then use a layer mask to replace the poorly-resolved subject in the first with the revised image from the second.

Okay, that might not be so easy for someone who's inexperienced, but it's pretty straightforward for someone with moderate Photoshop experience.

[cdifoto]

Shoot RAW, use low to moderate contrast settings. Proper exposure and good lighting will fit 'em both within the DR of the camera.

[txsnurse]

Thanks guys, I'm good with using RAW so I'll go that direction. I'm very inexperienced with Photoshop but I do have elements and am making an effort to learn. I wasn't trying to sound like an ass, but one of my friends who is very dark complected had a "professional" wedding photographer butcher her pictures. I'm just trying to get it right for a friend. Thanks again.

[cdifoto]

If you have a good handle on exposure, you'll be fine. Don't be scared of fill flash to balance out the shadows if you're in high contrast natural light.

[Pit]

Fill flash and a nice diffuser, i get a lot of IR couples as guests where i shoot and it can be a nightmare when shooting in very dark areas.