How to balance for black and white?

[alabama1980]

I'll be shooting a christmas party on the 19th of December. The larger majority of the guests will be black folks. Honestly, I have never shot anyone with dark skin.

Any tips or suggestions for when that really dark skinned girl has a snow white dress on?

Sorry for the amateurish question, but a new situation calls for advice from the POTN gods...:)

[sapearl]

I run into similar circumstance when doing weddings - you have the typically black tuxedo standing next to the white wedding dress; a challenge in exposing for good tonal values.

I would suggest shooting RAW to give yourself the greatest "recovery cushion" in case some exposures become less than ideal. But the basic principles of good exposure still apply, although with flash you may have use a bit of FEC - in some cases to avoid overexposure. Also bounce whenever possible, and items like the Lumiquest of Demb modifiers may prove to be useful. - Stu