Lesson Title: Creating Accurate Skin Tones &
Great Detail in Your Digital Portraits
Lesson
Description:
The purpose of this lesson
is for you to discover how to create accurate skin tones and color in your
portraiture. You need to setup your lights on a true white backdrop.
Lesson Requirements:
Tools Necessary for
The Assignments to complete whole lesson:
 | Gretag MacBeth Color Chart or
Gretag MacBeth Color Checker DC |
|
Digital Camera & Camera Manual |
|
Lighting System |
|
Pure White Backdrop |
|
Flats if necessary to make sure your set isn’t being affected by
any color in the environment |
|
Reflector (Gold & Silver) |
|
3 People of Different Skin Tone/Color
|
Lesson:
Part
One:
Setup your lights for a standard head
shot/portrait. You should have one main light for subject and whatever
lights you need to make sure background is evenly lit white. If necessary
place 4x8 flats on both sides of your portrait set to make sure your set
isn’t being affected by any color in the environment like a purple
wall, etc. If you did have a purple wall the light could bounce off of this
and change the color of your color chart. Shoot your Color Chart at 125th @
f8. It’s a good idea to always keep your lights, camera, and lens
consistent each time you setup to check color. Always using the same
settings lets you know if your lights are shifting, which they will do over
time. The better your lighting system the less this will happen. Adjust
your lights and make sure the whites are white and blacks are black first.
Then check the rest of the colors on the chart. Make sure you chart is
color correct and that you background is white. Once the lights are setup
and your background is pure white, you can start the next part of this
lesson. Keep you cameras settings and light settings all the same accept
now take one shot with each white balance setting on your camera. Examine
and decide which is the best for your environment. Once you have done
this, save the file and submit it, using the Submit Assignment button on
this page.
Extra Step For Advanced Users Who
Want To Take it Further:
Keep you camera
settings and light settings all the same except take one shot with each
white balance setting on your camera. Examine and decide which is best for
your environment. Advanced users who may have additional settings for color
temperature on their digital camera can do this exercise, although it's not
required. If you like, you can shoot the color chart starting at 3000 K and
then change the color temperature setting by 500 degrees until you get to
10,000.
Part Two:
Now that the colors of your lights are set and accurate, you can shoot
your three subjects with three different skin tones.
I recommend having a makeup artist even when photographing men. Powder,
a little foundation and/or moisturizer can make a huge difference and save
you time on retouching later. However, it is important that you have a good
makeup artist; the most talented artists are the ones who can do a real
natural look on anyone. A natural look means that it appears like they
aren’t wearing makeup at all. The foundation and powder is blended so
that when you take the photograph, you can’t see the makeup and the
eyes pop. Makeup artists who can accomplish this are the most difficult to
find because many new artists want to be creative, which usually means they
over apply and there’s too much on for natural portraits. Always test
your makeup artists before working with them on a big client. This exercise
you are about to do is a great way to make sure you have a good makeup
artist.
Photograph each subject first holding
the color chart.
Adjust your exposures so that you are happy with the image. Then take
another shot of them still holding the color chart with a gold reflector
bouncing toward their face and the chart. Then repeat using a silver
reflector. Notice the shift in skin tones and colors. Then lose the color
chart and photograph your subject till you are happy with the skin tone.
Proceed with the next two subjects using the same procedure.
Tips and Suggestions:
It essential for
professional work that your client's skin tone “look good”. Now
this is definitely open to many interpretations; however, the initial shot
you create should have a good tonal range without any color cast. The
lights must be color accurate and your set must be controlled so that you
aren’t getting any additional color from other sources.
Examine these two shots. Notice the color of
the eyes, skin and hair.
Look at the background; is it really white?
Now Examine at these two shots:
Both of these images
were shot using the same lights, same set, etc. However, there was one
thing that was done inaccurately. The camera was set to use auto white
balance. How come the oranges don’t match? What about the skin? Is
the black black? Is the white white? So it’s important while shooting
with digital cameras that your white balance is customized to a color
temperature or set to that same setting while shooting to capture
consistent color. If you are on location and your lighting is changing and
you can’t control it, the white balance may need to be set on auto.
If you are shooting in RAW mode, you can change it later. However garbage
in equals garbage out.
Color Matching Skin
Tones:
It is important your system is entirely
calibrated including your lights, camera, computer monitor, and printer. Or
your skin tones will never be accurate or consistent.
Bad skin tones typically have a yellow/green cast, a ruddy look (too
red); or, with some digital cameras you will get a grayish tone where they
look a little dead. The main challenge with accurate color on digital or
film comes down to the color temperature of your lights and your white
balance and making sure your lights are truly “white.”
Color Temperature Examples
3000- Way too warm notice yellow
green casts in neck.
5900-Final Image
Selection, Warm and sunny for California Casting Agent
8000- Too Blue
When evaluating the skin tone
colors ask you self these questions:
| Is the skin Ruddy (too
red)? |
|
Does the skin look alive and fresh or Grey?
|
| Is the tone true to their real
life color? There are so many colors in our world that it’s important
you pay attention to this so that everyone looks true to themselves in
portraiture. |
|
Do they have: Olive Skin? Golden Warm Tones? Cooler blue tones?
|
| Are they sick and look a
little yellow/green? |
|
Were they out snowboarding and are toasty red?
|
| What is warm? What’s
cool? What’s right? What’s wrong?
|
Client Delivery = Communication
It’s important that you always deliver a portrait they love
because they will be loyal customers. Make sure that you have a correctly
calibrated printer in the studio, at least for proofs. And, when you are
working with outside Printing Services, be sure that you setup a workflow
that is consistent. You need to work out all the details so that your color
gets produced/output accurately. Make sure you discuss these topics: File
Preparation, RGB, CMYK, profiles for monitor, papers, Internet, etc.
Although his, of course, is another assignment unto itself.
Reference Material:
Check out the Tips
& Trick section
What you are looking for when you critique:
I will be looking to see that your final photographs have skin tones
that are accurately representing three people of three different skin
colors photographed on a pure white background. I well also be
examining your initial color charts to make sure the lights are balanced as
well. So be sure to submit three portratis and your color chart sample.
Lesson Prerequisites:
Knowledge of studio lighting techniques and systems; a basic knowledge
of color correction techniques through lighting, filters, etc.; a basic
understanding of Adobe Photoshop postproduction techniques like retouching
and color correction techniques is also helpful.
Copyright & Rights: Please adhere to all the rules and
regulations of copyright with your images and the copyright of
others.
Also, listen to the audio interview on
copyright with attorney Robert Cavallo in the Conference
Room at Photoworkshop.com.
Visit
the United States Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/
http://www.photoworkshop.com/registered/pages/conference.html
Click
here to view Storyteller Bios.
| 
