If you have to shoot during the middle of the day, look for evenly shaded areas to photograph your subject.

This should create a dynamic photo with slight shadows and curves, illuminating the subject softly. For example, if you’re in a dark room, you might have the subject stand close to the window, facing out. [3] X Expert Source David ZhangProfessional Photographer Expert Interview. 26 January 2021.

Test out taking the pictures at different times of day—the cast of an early morning sun will be different than the sun when it’s noon or early evening.

You can often get a little detail by positioning them at an angle, allowing the bright light to illuminate some of their face.

If you want to use a darker background, you’ll need to light the background and the person separately.

This doesn’t mean that you should make the entire background a color that would match the undertones—just a small piece of the background, so that it stands out. For example, if someone has orange undertones in their skin, have them stand beside a store that happens to have an orange-toned sign.

If you’re photographing for a photo shoot, encourage the subject to bring multiple outfits to choose from.

For example, if you’re taking a picture of dark skin outdoors and are getting bad backlight, touch where the person’s face is on the phone screen to make the camera focus on that spot. Your cell phone won’t be able to adjust the lighting as well as a real camera can, so experiment with different focus points until you find one that works.

Look at the app store on your phone to see which other camera apps are available.

Try overexposing by two thirds to 1 full stop.

Reflectors are large and white, placed next to the subject so that the flash will bounce off of the reflector onto the subject, casting a nicer light. Flash diffusers attach to your camera and help scatter the light once the camera goes off.

You can edit other colors in the photo, such as the background or clothing, later on in Photoshop.

The fill flash casts light on the subject, illuminating their details and highlighting their face. This works well if you’re photographing darker skin against a background such as the sky.

You can sharpen specific colors in the photos in Photoshop later on, if desired. This is especially important if you’re photographing white clothing on darker skin, or a dark skinned subject next to a lighter skinned one.