A few shots from my daughters graduation. I don't know how to properly handle vastly differing skin tones. The outdoor shots are done with the pop-up flash, no a speed light on hand. CC sincerely welcomed. EDIT: To be clear changing the white balance may improve the look for one person but detracts from others, See image 5 looking for hints.
I'd start by increasing exposure/brightness first, then work on the skin tones if you see fit. The only issue I foresee is that graduation gowns and accessories are now made of highly reflective material which may cause some issues. It should be fairly easy to mask the sky and water and keep the exposure/brightness on those down while you raise the rest of the images up some.
Thanks for looking and for trying to answer a pretty non-specific question. My daughter wore some pretty orange-ish makeup that was extremely shiny and I found it difficult to process. I know the shine is a separate issue and I can deal with that.
I guess I was asking if you have a case where there are drastic changes across 3 or 4 subjects, would treat each skin tone individually with a brush (or other technique) or do you shoot for a white balance that is the best compromise across the subjects?
Congrats!