Conficting Skin Tones

[fbroschart]

I shot this couple this weekend....they are good friends of mine and wanted a shot to use in a picture frame at their upcoming wedding in two weeks. I liked this shot, but I am struggling with the color. She has olive skin and he has a more pale and ruddy complexion. My questions are:

Does the color look bad?
Should I try to correct the redness in his skin?
Should I just give up and convert to B&W?



Camera Nikon D300
Exposure 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 200

There's a couple of more shots from the day here....

lina&Dave - a set on Flickr

[MrJones]

it's hard to say regarding the exact skin tones as they differ from one person to the next and they both have a bit different skin tone than what I'm used to.
what I can say is that the picture is underexposed and looks better once you add some brightness to it.
I'm guessing her skin tone is about right and his skin tone is ok except for the redness which is there in real life as well.
I would try and get some of that redness off but not all of it since it is a part of him and we want to stay loyal to the source.

[fbroschart]

Thanks for your feedback Mr. Jones. I appreciate it!

[JFSanders]

He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would care for a "enhanced" look. And she obviously likes the way he looks or she would not be marrying him. I say leave it be. But do brighten it ever so slightly. It may be to your advantage to have them turn a little more toward each other without going to full on profile. I liked the way he looked in the third shot and the way she looks in this shot.

Jim

[NicolaB]

Hi I agree with all said. A little underexposed but you have done well for all the contrasting colours in the image I think the b&w evens everything out more.

I love the other image btw. It really shows their connection.

[zona5101]

Lightening it would be good... I wouldn't be overly concerned with changing their skin tones unless they asked you too. But i am not sure why you lit it from below (or, more accurately, chose a location where the ambient light came from below.) It's an unflattering light. Like when you were a kid and held a flashlight under your chin...