What caused the oily reflections on faces


pchengws

Member
Oct 26, 2009
458
2
18
Red Dot Island
Dear CSers,

Recently I took photos for my son's solemniation of marriage. Photos turned out well, except few photos of my daughter-in-law's faces show high contras oily patches.

I use Nikon D800 with lens 24-70mm flash with TTL FP, reason the sun is strong at afternoon and behind them both outdoor and indoor. In the group shots others around them faces show up skin even, except hers. It is my flash point direct to them or it is her make-up issue? Outdoor there is no ceiling and indoor ceiling is too high and gold color, so end up i use diffusor box mount on the flash and aim direct to them.

Any experts would give me some hints what to do and what not to do, so I do not make the same mistake when the actual wedding at bali in few months later.

Thank you.
 

it can be the makeup. Recently some makeup artists like to use shiny powder. The other thing may be the bride was sweating or facial oil is showing. The only way is to powder or use paper blotter on the face.
 

yes, if her face is whiter than the rest on photos, most probably is the make up,
this type of makeup suppose to be use for night events, so she will look radiant under spot light, but it is the nightmare for photographers who are using flash, their face will light up like road sign in express way that can been seen from 1km away.

try shoot without flash, or use ceiling bounce flash if you encounter this again.
 

Thank you catchlights.

It is too late and the situation bounce flash does not work because ceiling was too high or no ceiling.

What I can I ask or request makeup artist to use or not to use. In fact I did asked whether it is reddish based before make up and she was not happy of me asking the question.
 

Start to learn how to use a flash properly.

Check out the bounce cards, flash benders, and soft box offerings.
 

Thank you catchlights.

It is too late and the situation bounce flash does not work because ceiling was too high or no ceiling.

What I can I ask or request makeup artist to use or not to use. In fact I did asked whether it is reddish based before make up and she was not happy of me asking the question.

well, you can ask the make up artist is the make up highly reflective?
anyway, the make up is for the bride for her ROM event, so is up the to bride to say.
if you hire makeup artist to do make up for your photo shoot model, you can tell the make up artist what you want.


FYI, when I encounter this was the time I still shooting on film, so by the time notice this is already printed on photos.
 

you could always show the make up artist and the bride what is the problem by showing them what you have taken directly on the camera lcd, this way they would know what is your concern. there are make ups that are meant really for photos or portrait shots even way back in the film era and supposedly new make up formulas should be better nowadays.

my wife who always do selfies with makeup always comment the same way which is why she would seldom not use a particular brand as this would show up oily or not good with or without flash.
 

you could always show the make up artist and the bride what is the problem by showing them what you have taken directly on the camera lcd, this way they would know what is your concern. there are make ups that are meant really for photos or portrait shots even way back in the film era and supposedly new make up formulas should be better nowadays.

Usually by then, it is too late. Make up already done, wedding already in progress. The only thing is to make do and improvise to do the best you can.

That is also why many wedding photographers carry quite a number of modifiers in their bags or car to work with different situations.
 

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May I ask a related qn regarding such situation:

Sometimes back, I took some shots for a friend's friend..... What happened was that on my shots, the facial tone of the bride and bridegroom are quite different (when together in the same pic) - (i think got to be due to the reason Catchlight highlighted). Any tips for effective post-processing....
 

Hi I had a good lesson sending through PM.

I had problem with my daughter wedding as her face shown little reddish with the makeup, but I notice it with sample shots. I requested her to make some change and the "pro" did not complain, but when my daughter show me her photos I notice all photos are in aged photo mode and my daughter seems to like it.

With that experience I also took few sample shots with all the white balancing I learnt. Photo turn out okay. This time there is no "Pro". This time I had few shots reflected with obvious oily reflection. It is too late to find out.

As swhyge mentioned, I can only try to make it up in post processing. Few photos I made it high-key and lighten it and I got away but there are still few more I need to work on.

I have Adobe cloud that contains PS CC and Light room. In addition I also have the full set of Topaz and for my daughter-in-law I just bought a Portaitpro studio 12. So far there is no quick fix.
 

you could always show the make up artist and the bride what is the problem by showing them what you have taken directly on the camera lcd, this way they would know what is your concern. there are make ups that are meant really for photos or portrait shots even way back in the film era and supposedly new make up formulas should be better nowadays....

Like some photographers, makeup artistes can be very arrogant as well, they can shoot back that your skills are not good enough, or if other photographers never complain, why you complain?, etc..etc...:bsmilie: if you need such makeup artistes, pls let me know, I can recommend 2 that can give you good dose of headaches....lol!
 

Hi i see this a lot here

Many girls want to look like Korean MTV stars

They like shimmering make-up
 

Like some photographers, makeup artistes can be very arrogant as well, they can shoot back that your skills are not good enough, or if other photographers never complain, why you complain?, etc..etc...:bsmilie: if you need such makeup artistes, pls let me know, I can recommend 2 that can give you good dose of headaches....lol!

Who who? PM me.

Dont recommend jobs to nasty MUAs.