How to shoot with flash and background light?

At a car show, I shot with a flash. The place was indoors and had ugly lighting. So for next time, how can I get better color for the overall shot? I shot with a D7K, SB-700 with it's built in diffuser drop down and built in diffuser white cap. Also, I'm not sure why the girls skin came out "plastic-like".

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It looks like you have color temp problems between the venue lights and the flash, maybe gel the flash, If I had to guess it looks like the venue has High Pressure Sodium lights which have a color temp of 2000k and your flash color temp is about 5600k

FuzzFace wrote in post #12529807
It looks like you have color temp problems between the venue lights and the flash, maybe gel the flash, If I had to guess it looks like the venue has High Pressure Sodium lights which have a color temp of 2000k and your flash color temp is about 5600k

I should have used the color caps that came with the flash...

Some times girls' skin will not photograph well because the type of makeup they are wearing is not flash friendly. I know it sounds weird, and I'm not saying that is the case here, but my daughter used to be a make up artist in Hollywood. She says that mineral makeup which is popular now, is not a good choice as it is too reflective for flash photography. Same thing with some eye shadows, she avoids them unless that is the look they are going for.... My nieces wedding photos were completely wrecked because she chose the wrong make up and the flash was NOT KIND to her as a result. The photographer was clueless too, but I could tell without even seeing the images that it wasn't going to photograph well. I wonder if there was an element of that in this case. There is lots about this written online if you care to google it.

suecassidy wrote in post #12529885
Some times girls' skin will not photograph well because the type of makeup they are wearing is not flash friendly. I know it sounds weird, and I'm not saying that is the case here, but my daughter used to be a make up artist in Hollywood. She says that mineral makeup which is popular now, is not a good choice as it is too reflective for flash photography. Same thing with some eye shadows, she avoids them unless that is the look they are going for.... My nieces wedding photos were completely wrecked because she chose the wrong make up and the flash was NOT KIND to her as a result. The photographer was clueless too, but I could tell without even seeing the images that it wasn't going to photograph well. I wonder if there was an element of that in this case. There is lots about this written online if you care to google it.

Thanks for this insight. I have a friend who said I must have been clipping a color channel (I saw no clipping) which was causing their faces (skin) to look "plastic-like". I must say it DID save me time from having to smooth their faces though...

kjonnnn wrote in post #12530218
What was your camera setting as far as aperture and shutter. They look overexposed by the flash.

A mode with f/2.8. Shutter speed varied but mostly between 1/60-1/125. ISO set at 1600.

did you try messing with your white balance? perhaps try a manual white balance... closer to what FuzzFace said at ~5600k

There will always be more car shows. Lesson learned. The girls still look lovely though...

Well color adjust for the girls face so they wont look blueish. When things like that happen to me I always remember that the subject of the photograph should be correct and if that changes other elements of the photograph then you have to live with that. Would rather the environment be too warm rather than the girls face too cool. Sometimes (rarely) this will look cool in a way.