Usually I prefer diffused light -- i.e. shade -- for outdoor portraiture. However, when the sun is low in the sky and it is somewhat softened by the atmosphere, direct front lighting looks really good, too. These are girls of the Surma tribe in Ethiopia, and I used a 70-200mm lens for the shot. I placed the girls about 10 feet in front of foliage knowing, at f/8, the background would be blurred but still somewhat recognizable. My other settings were 1/250 and 200 ISO. The face painting is not done for tourists and photographers. It is their daily cultural identity.
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