Tips for Photographing Skin Tones

Photographing different skin tones is a difficult skill to master if you are new to photography. Luckily, there are many photography tips you can use to accurately capture different skin tones to produce the best images possible. These tips need to be used to capture both dark and light skin tones correctly without causing any distortion to the subject.

Capturing Skin Tones

Choosing the correct lighting to accurately capture skin tones can be a difficult decision. When natural lighting is not available, it is best to use florescent lights. Cool lighting is essential to use when photographing skin tones because if harsh lighting is used, the subject's good features can be hidden while their bad features are accentuated. If this should occur or you have a doubt whether or not you are using the correct lighting, make the image black and white. Black and white photo's generally hide skin flaws that would have been produced otherwise.

In order to accurately capture skin tones, you will want to set your resolution settings to medium. If you use a low resolution setting it will cause skin tones to lose their true tones. A high resolution setting can distort skin tones as well.

Capturing Light Skin Tones

In most cases, you do not want to use the flash when photographing a subject with a light skin tone, which is especially true when photographing very pale skin tones. If you use a flash for those with light skin tones, you will cause the skin to light up poorly and cause the face to become distorted, hiding their facial features. It is best to use the white balance option when photographing those with light skin. It may take some experimenting with the white balance setting to find the best lighting to accurately capture the light skin tone.

Capturing Dark Skin Tones

Capturing dark skin tones requires using different techniques than those used when capturing light skin tones. You never want to have your subject stand in front of a bright light source if they have a dark skin tone. By standing in front of a bright light source, such as a window, the subject's face will have dark shadows cast upon it, hiding their facial features and causing distortion. If possible, have your subject stand in front of a cooling background, such as water or the sky. Use a soft flash to take the picture to ensure the subject's facial features are enhanced. You can use the back light feature as well while photographing those with dark skin tones, but make sure you zoom in on the subject correctly to decrease the amount of background in the shot.