B&W filters for dark skin portraits

Could anyone give me advice on what black and white filters would work

well for portraits of dark-skinned people? As the skin is ofter

brownish toned, I imagine a green filter would make them appear darker

on B&W film...? Maybe an orange filter would work well? Any experiences?

 

Thanks,

 

Paul

Filters lighten the tones of the same color (orange makes orange lighter) and darken all

others.Dark skinned people need a little more exposure to give detail in the skin tones.

Cutting back on developing times helps too. I do not think any filter helps as much as

more

exposure. I hope this helps.

Why do you need a filter? What are you trying to change?

I use yellow on most or all of my B&W photos. This is the reccommend filter

for B&W and portraits.

 

hope this helps.

<i>This is the reccommend filter for B&W and portraits</i><p>

 

Why? I've been shooting portraits for years and not once used a filter. Nor do any of the people I know who do it, even profesionally, use a filter.

I am not referring to studio portraits, but rather on location. I like to use a green filter outdoors to deepen skies, lighten vegetation, etc. However with dark subjects I was afraid that I might darken the skin tone, too. On caucasion skin, a green filter often gives a pleasing tonal quality absent otherwise.I occaisionally use a yellow filter as well and rarely a red (too much contrast and not so flattering if people are in the picture). Moreover, dark skin is not terribly easy to photograph and when you have several subjects - some lighter skinned and some darker - it's a bit tricky and perhaps a filter might help even things out, if that's possible. SO I was just wondering if anyone had an experiences and could shed some light on the topic. Thanks for the advice everyone!

<i>Moreover, dark skin is not terribly easy to photograph </i><p>

 

I don't know where you get this idea. If you know how to properly expose, dark skin is just skin. I shoot people with dark skin all the time, and it's never been an issue, and I've never seen any need for a filter.

<i>I don't know where you get this idea. If you know how to properly expose, dark skin is just skin. I shoot people with dark skin all the time, and it's never been an issue, and I've never seen any need for a filter.</i>

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I wish more photographers were like you. My brothers are black, school pictures never come out as well as with white kids. My mom has even taken them to studios - but unless you pay a lot, the studios are run by people who don't know how to adjust lighting/exposure for darker skinned people. It's really frustrating. What's also frustrating - almost all digital manipulation books have lots of tricks for dealing with light skin tones, but none for dark skin tones. Not too hard to figure out, but still frustrating for people like mom who don't know how to figure it out.

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I know this is a B+W thread - but it's better to shoot dark coloured people with slide film, because the automated machines that print negative prints don't understand black skin either. Sometimes it's not so bad - but sometimes the only way to get good results from negatives is to ask (and pay) for custom hand printing.

I agree with Jeff. There's no "trick" to photographing dark skinned folks. In studio against a dark background I'll sometimes add a second light, but I've yet to find any real difference caused by skin tone. It's a myth.

I personally would not use a filter for dark skin. I shoot a lot of darker skin people and i

hear the same old song about the "horror" shots of inaccurate color. The exposure time is

a little different but not tricky. Be aware that camera meters can be a little off

depending of the shade of your subject.

<p>what i understand is that u want to lighten the skin tone, make the subject look standing out from the background, rt? that also depends on how dark the skin actually is... if u they are brown or slightly brown, dark brown, or latino kinda tan, then light orange to dark orange range might let that color in preferentially making ur subject stand out, especially if ur shooting against a sky background or foliage that is green, keep in mind the colors of ur background. yellow works on certain other skin types... your exposure time would increase by 2 stops preferably. this also helps cos ur increasing the glass elements.. <br>

if the person is really dark.. a light red would help, but then again keep the background in mind.<br>

i suggest u take different shots of the same person same situation with different filters to gauge the exact settings...this should be ur benchmark.<br>

skin color is basically a degree of redness, keep this in mind. hope this helps and do let me know how ur shoot went. would be glad to hear from you.<br>

happy snapping!</p>