green screen photography - DPChallenge Forums

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/10/2008 12:54:49 PM · #1

This Friday I am shooting at the reception for this wedding. Mostly candids, I imagine. It will be extremely informal.

The idea of setting up a studio similar to the one we had at the wedding at first seemed to be a waste of time with the party atmosphere, but I'm curious as to how a green screen studio set-up would fare. We have one, we've just never used it. Do shots like these, if done right, sell? Other than lighting the screen evenly and having the model a good distance in front, are there any suggestions lighting-wise? What's the best way to extract once I'm in CS3? and most importantly... am I crazy to even think about doing this when it's only 3 days away.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

06/10/2008 01:49:33 PM · #2

Yeah, you're crazy, unless the green screen shots are all duplicates of conventional shots so you have fallbacks. Green screen work can be tricky until you have it nailed down. It takes hands-on experience to figure out the variables.

R.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/10/2008 02:21:03 PM · #3

That's what I figured. Well, the upside to this is that we're doing it free for family (did I say upside?) so no biggie if it turns out bad 'cause we'll be taking plenty of other shots in the main room anyway. We may just use this as one huge experiment... bring the computer, and adjust lighting, etc as necessary. If it flops... too bad, if not, we've got a lot of fun stuff to play with.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

06/10/2008 03:28:00 PM · #4

Originally posted by cynthiann:

As long as the green screen shots are just extras and you have the time to make them and play with them, then you cannot lose. Like I said... It's actually kind of fun. I've never done it with people but I have done it with books and products.

R.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6G ED

06/10/2008 04:21:54 PM · #5

Yeah, I'm getting pretty excited and doing lots of preparatory googling. Just out of curiosity ... why blue/green and not simply white. I'm guessing it has to do with post processing (easier to extract green leaving just the subject).

gwe21

Nikon D300

06/10/2008 04:49:39 PM · #6

I would love to play around with a green screen. If you do it at the wedding, you have to update us on how it went and share!! Would be interesting!

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/10/2008 04:50:05 PM · #7

Originally posted by cynthiann:

That's exactly it. They picked a color that wasn't represented in nature much so you can select it out easily.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

06/10/2008 04:54:41 PM · #8

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Originally posted by cynthiann:
Yeah, I'm getting pretty excited and doing lots of preparatory googling. Just out of curiosity ... why blue/green and not simply white. I'm guessing it has to do with post processing (easier to extract green leaving just the subject).

That's exactly it. They picked a color that wasn't represented in nature much so you can select it out easily.

Exactly right. Not so much "not represented in nature" as "not represented in people". It's a very pure, very bright green. As long as you light it evenly you can just select it with a small oval selection and "select similar", presto-changeo... White or black presents real problems for that sort of rapid selection.

R.