Skin Tones

One of the biggest areas where many photos could benefit from some post processing is: skin tones. I didn't pick the very best example here, because I purposely overexposed this shot a little... but it at least gives an idea.

This is one of the very first photography tips that I learned. I still remember 8 years or so ago, when my friend took my photo that I thought was pretty good and "warmed it up" for me, and the difference was AMAZING. I was dying to know how she made out skin look so much better, like it was a beautiful sunny day, instead of the overcast dreary day that it was.

Skin tones can be very hard to get "right", and I still struggle in this area.... but fortunately, they are quite easy to get "better". But a lot of it depends on training your eyes. In the top photo of Keturah, can you see how her skin is gray? Bluish even? The "tone" of the skin is a cool tone. Well, that's fine if you're photgraphing Russell Crowe in Gladiator when he's at the frozen battle field and the snow is beginning to fall... those scenes are all filmed so dark and gray, it's just perfect. But personally, I like warm outdoor photos for the most part... not always, but usually.

They day that I took this photo it had been raining much of the day, and had just stopped. The sky was thick with dark clouds, it was very dreary outside. But with a little post processing, it almost looks like my daughter was outside on a spring day, not a rainy, dark one.

How to achieve this is different with every program, and I suggest looking up tutorials for your spec program. I use Photoshop, so I can tell you what I did, but it still may sound like gibberish unless you know what I'm talking about. I adjusted the curves to brighten and warm it overall. I then turned up the red until I liked it, then I turned down the blue (which in turn turns up the yellow). I also did 2 other complicated steps that I'm not getting into today... but the result was to defog, sharpen and intensify.

The biggest goal of this post is to get you to begin looking at skin tones with a critical eye... and not settle for blue-gray caucasian skin anymore. :)

Here is another example of "before and after" showing skin tones. Yes, it's very warm, but that's my style. :)