As a photographer you’ll likely be asked to photograph a wide range of different people; different body types, ages, and skin colors.

I’ve been hired on countless jobs precisely because I can flatter individuals or groups of people with a great deal of variety in skin tones.

In this video, I’ll provide three main considerations for flattering darker skin tones including:

(1) White Balance
(2) Quality of Light
(3) Fill Light

Let’s dive in with a quick overview in this description and much more detail in the video!

(A) White Balance
With darker skin tones you’ll want to be very aware of achieving the correct white balance. Avoid Auto White Balance! Many cameras will ‘see’ the warmth of the skin and incorrectly cool the skin tone down making it look gray and lifeless.

Instead, try the appropriate white balance preset (Studio = Flash or Outdoors whatever is most appropriate). Ideally, you will use a grey card or color checker to achieve the most accurate white balance results, rather than leaving it up to the camera or trying to get ‘close enough’ with a preset.

(B) Quality of Light

First, it is important to emphasize that there is no one ‘best’ quality of light for photographing darker skin tones. Many of my favorite images of the model featured in this video were hard light sources with gels. The concept is essential to your lighting choices.

That being said, if you want the smoothest looking skin a softer light source is an ideal choice.

In this video, I chose a Large Umbrella with Diffusion because it creates a large, bounced, and diffused light source. AKA SOFT!

When photographing darker skin tones, you will see the reflection of the main light on the skin. With a harder or more specular light source, you will see more texture and it is less smooth. A larger/softer light source results in a smoother (typically more flattering) reflection.

(C) Fill Light

On darker skin tones the shadow side of the face will get darker faster. In other words, shadows appear darker and you may lose detail. Consider adding some sort of fill into the equation especially when in the studio. This can be a V-Flat, additional strobe, or small bounce reflector.

Note: On location the environment often will help to bounce light, helping to prevent unwanted pure-black shadows.

These three main points, of course, do not cover all of the considerations for creating the ‘best’ results for darker skin tones. Instead, these are essentials to consider as you flatter your subjects.

To learn more about lighting, be sure to check out my studio lighting mastery course at www.lindsayader.photo/msl or my countless video tutorials and guides at www.learnwithlindsay.com

Lindsay Adler is a Fashion and Beauty Photographer, Educator, and Author based in New York City. Her editorials have appeared in Bullett Magazine, Zink Magazine, and Fault. She has contributed to photo publications Professional Photographer, Rangefinder Magazine, and Popular Photography.

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