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The skin colour of my subject is widely inconsistent and I am not sure what the reason for it is. To me it looks like the side of the face suffers from a colour shadow thrown by the bright hair. At the same time, the skin colour closer towards the centre of the face seems like an exaggeration of minor differences in colour of the subject's skin. Those reddish/pink spots aren't really visible to my eye.

What is the best approach to avoid such issues as I am taking a photo so I don't have to try and fix it in Photoshop afterwards? Is it something with my settings?

Picture is taken in JPG in manual mode with automatic white balance and spot-metering. No filters or special camera modes.

It's certainly a very warm colour balance. Is this more accurate? It's a simple 'Auto Color' process, available in most photo editors.

But, although it's refreshing to see a young girl not plastered in makeup, it IS rather cruelly accurate.

What shall we do about the shadow under the cheekbone? Maybe do some subtle work with the airbrush. Or just re-shoot, but reflect some light into that area?

You are likely not getting the colors you want because of the color profile on your camera or raw processing software does not match your preferences. Camera and lens selection may also play a role.

Lens Selection

Lenses may transmit different frequencies differently. For instance, some produce warmer colors, while others are cooler. Some lenses also have defects, such as "glow", when shot wide open. Some people find that a soft-focus look is pleasant in portraits.

Camera Settings

If you are disciplined, you should set custom white balance. However, if you shoot in conditions with varied lighting, forgetting to change white balance can result in dozens of subsequent shots being ruined. Some cameras allow color-shift adjustments to auto white balance. Since AWB on my camera tends to produce images with more magenta than I'd like, I adjust AWB to increase the complementary color, green.

You should also select the color profile on your camera that best matches your preferences. Usually one or two profiles will subdue magenta-red colors. Available options vary by camera maker:

• 
  FujiFilm: Provia, Velvia, Astia, Classic Chrome, ProNeg-High, ProNeg-Low.


• 
  Canon: Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful.


• 
  Nikon: Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Flat.


• 
  Olympus (Picture Modes): i-Enhance, Vivid, Natural, Muted, Portrait.



• Sony (Creative Style): Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Autumn leaves.




• _{(Feel free to suggest edits with camera makers and profile names...)}

Cameras also typically allow adjustments to saturation, contrast, highlight, shadows, noise reduction, and sharpness.

Post Processing

The objectionable skin tones are most likely magenta, not red. Even if the colors are accurate, you may still prefer less magenta.

• You can reduce the magenta by adjusting curves to increase the complementary color, green, in relevant areas. Use color-layer blending to avoid changing the overall luminosity of the image. Use layer masks to isolate changes.




• Sometimes desaturating slightly is enough to fix skin tones. Use a layer mask to isolate changes.




• Some editors include skin-tone specific tools. If these are available to you, experiment with them until you find settings you like.

In your sample image, the "whites" of the girl's eyes are pinkish. Here is the image after adjusting the gamma of the green (1.15) and red (0.85) channels to neutralize the color cast somewhat. Her cheeks are still pinkish, but it should appear more natural and perhaps more to your liking.