Creating flattering skin tones represents a cornerstone of successful portrait photography, yet skin presents one of the most complex challenges to photograph and retouch properly. Skin varies dramatically in color, tone, and texture across different individuals, and each variation requires tailored approaches and techniques.
Learn essential strategies for managing your subject's skin and elevating your portrait work across all variations. In this comprehensive course, professional photographer Lindsay Adler guides you through understanding, lighting, photographing, and retouching skin tones across the complete spectrum of human diversity.
Establish a strong foundation before your session by learning practical makeup application approaches. Gain comprehensive knowledge of how light modifiers, reflectors, and light direction influence skin appearance in both natural light and controlled studio environments. Master sophisticated color calibration and color grading techniques. Build expertise in configuring your camera for accurate color reproduction and when to employ post-production adjustments for optimal skin rendering.
Lindsay provides instruction on managing diverse skin variations: fair complexions, deep dark tones, extremely glossy skin, severe breakouts, and many more challenges. You will gain complete proficiency from photographing each skin variation to retouching these different types of skin in post-production software.
Software Used: Adobe Photoshop CC 14.2