Why Cameras FAIL Dark Skin Tones: Photography Basics

Рет қаралды 4,364

4 жыл бұрын

When you're learning how to use a camera and take photos, frustration ensues when the camera freaks out and either overexposes a scene or under exposes a scene. This happens a lot with dark skin tones and very pale skin tones.
In this video, I share the super simple reason your camera fails you and how to fix it fast.
Related videos you may enjoy:
📹 • how to order holiday c... Photo Holiday Cards Examples
📹 • 17Hats vs Tave: Softwa... Client Management Software Review TAVE vs. 17HATS
📹 • Sales Averages for Eac... 4 Business Models for Photographers
Who is Heather McKay? I’m a location-independent business mentor for photographers who struggle to sell products. They know they need to value their time and work by raising their prices and stop giving out digital files but worry about scaring away customers. I help them confidently attract the right clients so they can sell with ease.
🌟 My specialty is in helping you streamline your In-Person Sales so you can easily create books and tangible items for our clients! Albums are my jam! I looooooove creating and selling albums.
💙 If you get value out of this channel and want to buy me lunch, great Karma is sent your way. Donations of any amount can be made here (note KZfaq donation in your message):
www.paypal.me/McKaysPhoto
🖥 Affiliate Links for Tools I Personally Use In My Photography Business:
DISCLOSURE: I may be compensated when you join using my links
|| Flodesk Email Marketing Newsletters: flodesk.com/c/HMCKAY
|| ConvertKit Online Marketing & Email: convertkit.com?lmref=8gmDFw
|| Later Social Media Scheduling: bit.ly/mckaylater
|| Professional Photographers of America (you get $35 off!): bit.ly/PPAmckay
|| Elementor Wordpress Page Builder: bit.ly/mckayelementor
|| Tave Client Management Software: tave.com/join/mckays-photography
|| Shootproof Web Galleries: bit.ly/shootproofmckay
|| MileIQ mileage tracker app: www.mileiq.com/invite/LUQAC
|| Square credit card processing: squareup.com/i/B7361AC2
|| Podia online course creation platform: www.podia.com/?via=heather-mckay
📲 Find me online anywhere you hang out:
mckaysphotography.com
twitter || Facebook || Instagram @mckaysphoto
Pinterest: / mckaysphoto

Пікірлер: 18

@rocketrollsvlogs7625 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for addressing this topic because it comes up quite often in the field and folks need to know how to be flexible for skin tones.

@stephanyfaycohen3842 10 ай бұрын

Many thanks Heather. Super cool advice.

@b991228 2 ай бұрын

What about bride’s white wedding dress & groom’s dark suit. Stagger the subjects to vary the exposure? Reflectors and flags?

@kismat_rana Жыл бұрын

I'm middle east asian and here different skin tone of people and I realised it and difficult in dark skin in low light without extra equipment, hard to get juicy skin tone from yellow greenish skin tone with zero red or false purple-red type of tone !! can not correct even with HSL because red does have also have various colour in it !!

@cherihawkins6801 3 жыл бұрын

This was very good, I would like to see more tutorials

@HeatherMcKay 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Cheri! I’m working on a new series of photography tutorials right now. Let me know if you have anything in particular that you struggle with.

@cathyfraser6524 4 жыл бұрын

Great explanation!

@HeatherMcKay 4 жыл бұрын

Cathy Fraser so glad it was clear. Seems simple, but throws people off.

@itneywhat 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@eduardocortes-dv4lo 3 жыл бұрын

Hi, for an interracial couple wedding outdoor in sunny day. What setting will be best? thank you

@HeatherMcKay 3 жыл бұрын

I’d go for the sunny 16 rule, but it depends on what you’re looking for. Typically I’ll do ISO 200, f/2.8 and then do shutter speed based on ambient light.

@nigell.8705 5 ай бұрын

Good video

@desarrollo8997 3 жыл бұрын

Good tip and you look like Melissa McBride

@ISRAADVISUALS 3 жыл бұрын

Cameras are racist😭😭

@HeatherMcKay 3 жыл бұрын

🤣 they just want everything to be a boring grey. The -/+ is my fave tool to overcome this.

@lsamoa Жыл бұрын

@@HeatherMcKay Smh. It's not just that, and the fact that you find that comment funny says a lot about you as photographer and as a person. Do you not know about the history of cameras and the Shirley card? The way cameras are made is indeed racist, they're calibrated to light skin: their colour tones, their undertones, the way they reflect light (diffuse vs specular reflectivity). You're doing your dark skinned clients a disservice by pretending it's just a question of exposure and laughing off any other factor. Learn how to properly photograph black people please, and try to be a better human too.

@HeatherMcKay Жыл бұрын

@@lsamoa actually, Shirley cards (or Nora as we called them in my photo lab days) refers to printing in the lab. The camera meter is using the grey scale (zone system basically). The camera meter has been around longer than Kodak used those Shirley cards, which began in the ‘50s. What I’m talking about here in this video is how to properly use the camera meter. Of course, spot metering and group metering would change the outcome as well. Going for accurate skin tones as the goal, not a “standard”. That’s the point. On top of ignoring the background, like photographing into a window or in a dark nightclub, which would also change the default settings the camera meter would give a photographer. So, adjustment is necessary. My laughing at the comment was because inanimate objects aren’t racist, people are. Thank you for your comment. I’ll be more considerate.

@lsamoa Жыл бұрын

@@HeatherMcKay Your response completely ignores the fact that skin rendition isn't just down to metering, but most of all to sensor colour calibration - and that calibration has inherited all the bias of the Shirley card. As long as camera manufacturers calibrate colours in their sensors to light skin and ignore dark ones, you as a photographer will have a lot more to do to get your black clients to look normal than just adjust metering. Smh.