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Exposing different skin tones properly using false color


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Hey everyone, hope you're all healthy and staying safe. I had a question regarding exposing different skin tones properly, specifically when using false color.

The general understanding I've come to after some research is that 1 stop over middle grey is generally proper exposure for caucasian skin. However, on the grey scale, how does this play over to other skin tones, such as more "olive" skin tones or black skin tones?

I'm trying to pay more detailed attention to the data that my camera provides regarding my light levels to make sure I'm getting the most out of the dynamic range rather than just using my eyes. I often shoot actors of color and want to make sure that I'm not underexposing them while also avoiding the reflective nature of darker skin tones. Being an African American male myself with a brown and slightly reddish complexion, I've beforehand based my exposure just off of how it appears through the monitor to me while considering how I think black skin looks best on camera. However, as I utilize false color more and more in judging my exposure, I want to know what a safe area on the grey scale is for darker skin tones. Additionally, if there are extra tricks some of you may use. For example, I read somewhere that the DP for HBO's "Insecure" Ava Berkofsky uses a polarizing filter when lighting black skin tones. Interested to hear your insights!

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