Zone system and skin color

[kristopher_lawrence]

Hi,

I have a curious question...

Couple weeks ago, I had a chat with a pakistani guy, and I took a picture of him. However, since I metered on him, the whole picture is a bit overexposed. I was working fast and I did not made the adjustments.

So, here's my question:

Ansel Adams says that the average caucasian skin is in zone 6, and that some really light skins (i.e. redhead and blond persons) are in 7. However what is the average zone for the other skin types? I guess that in the previous exemple it should have been in zone 4.

So, here are my hypothesis:
asian, zone 5
arabic, India zone 4
black persons between 4 and 3

Any advice would be really great! I am starting a project implicating taking picture of persons of different origins, and it would be really helpfull. I could always bracket my shots, but I think it would be easier to get the shot right on the first time. I don't use an incident light meter, but relly on sunny 16 and the ttl meter of my camera.

Thanks,

Kris

 

[CBG]

asian, zone 5
arabic, India zone 4
black persons between 4 and 3

I think those might be near the far end for a naturalistic look. I'm sure many asians would look right at zone 6 and many blacks at zone 5.

C

 

[Anupam Basu]

However what is the average zone for the other skin types?

Spot-meter the skin and then spot meter a gray card for an exact answer. However, not all asians or caucasians will have the same skin tone, but you know that.