Super imposing people onto backgrounds

I'm not sure I've worded my title correctly but I have a potential client that wants a series of individual and group photos taken and then edited into various backgrounds.
Can anyone recommend a easy work flow for this? maybe an app arr add on for PS

Details: Annual regional sports awards, possibly 100-200 photos of groups & or individuals, prize winners photos edited to appear in front of a background of images of their sport.

I have no problems capturing the images most likely in front of a sponsors backdrop but I don't really have the confidence to edit this many photos in this manner


Thanks in Advance

Jason

Look at the links in post #6 in: Need to remove a background from something?

Search green/blue screen, chromakeying.

kirk

This will not be easy. As mentioned above look at green screen technology, but the chances are your images will look fake and somewhat cheesy.

The background sounds like it is not necessarily going to be an actual physical scene, but an image of "their sport". The idea behind green screen is that the background is a contrast to the tones in the model, making isolating and masking the model easier and automatable (is that a word?). Even if you pull a great key and a perfect mask, you may have to edit the appearance of the model in the shot to match the lighting or color palette of the background plate onto which you are compositing the model to create a convincing comp that does not appear "cheesy."

If you capture all of the images in front of a non-uniform background, like a backdrop with sponsors' logos, creating a mask to eventually pull the subject out of the image and comp them onto another background could be a potential nightmare that will take a lot of effort to make a good mask. If you shoot against a generic green screen, you can comp them into any background, including one with sponsor logos on them.

Another possible, super clever way to attempt this would be to gather all of the background images that are going to be used and set the model up in front of a projector screen, onto which you could project the appropriate background image. This way you are effectively making the composite image in-camera. Depending on how you light your model, you may be able to gel the projector so that the color temperatures of the projected image background and the subject lighting match.

just a thought. I have never tried this, so I have no idea if it is feasible. Seems like it could work though.

kirk

Green screen is an involved enough process that there is a lot of specialized gear needed to pull it off, and not just well enough, but in a way that can be automated. And as already said, it requires careful matching to the background, depending the the effect you're going for.

The problem here is that whatever you earn from this job will potentially cover the expenses just to get set up... but you will end up with a personal green screen to use, assuming you have future use for one.

You will need a good green screen, careful lightning and good keying software.

I use eazygreenscreen which works quite well when you get the hang of it.

The key to reduce the "cheesy" look and the fake appearance is to shoot your subject with clean edges, meaning you need a lot of DOF so you can't got to tight.

shoot from F/8->F/13 to get enough dof and capture half body shots and crop later if you need to go tighter.

Rarely will it work to have sharp background behind your subject unless you mask and add softening in post (this will be time consuming) easiest and often best looking (in my opinion) is to to have clean edge and blur the background so it looks like the BG is oof due to DOF.

Joel Grimes does this sort of thing all the time. However he shoots his clients, generally first, against white seamless, in studio. Then he chooses an appropriate background to drop his client-shoot onto. He shoots his own backgrounds as well. Grimes is well know for his 3-light edgy sports look.

So what I'm saying is that white-seamless is an option. Moreover, the background color needs to be a solid color to make the PP of cutting out your subject much easier. With white it might be easier to blow-out the background, giving good contrast to your subject, thus easy to remove it.

Yes that's another approach which requires tons of more time and experience. There is a german photographer who does similar stuff that Joel grimes does, he often uses a grey background just to get the edge not to bright or to dark for his compositions.

The OP's will shoot 100-200 photos, using Joel Grimes technique when someone never done it before is not a viable option imo.

fotopaul wrote in post #17627719
Yes that's another approach which requires tons of more time and experience. There is a german photographer who does similar stuff that Joel grimes does, he often uses a grey background just to get the edge not to bright or to dark for his compositions.

The OP's will shoot 100-200 photos, using Joel Grimes technique when someone never done it before is not a viable option imo.

I agree with that. I think my main point is instead of green backgrounds, any color or white. If the OP has seamless backdrop setup, he shouldn't need to purchase a Green (chroma-key) screen backdrop. Well unless there will be several people wearing white clothing. However even so, he could light the background so it's grey or black.

For production work cutting out from a regular seamless is hugely more time consuming than using a chromakey. Joel grimes spends a lot of time lighting each subject so the cutout matches background perfectly. The OP likely wont have the ti e to apply the precision Grimes does for that number of subjects.

frozenframe wrote in post #17627870
I agree with that. I think my main point is instead of green backgrounds, any color or white. If the OP has seamless backdrop setup, he shouldn't need to purchase a Green (chroma-key) screen backdrop. Well unless there will be several people wearing white clothing. However even so, he could light the background so it's grey or black.

The whole point with shooting chroma key is that the background is easily removable in post. Blowing a white background that bleeds on the subject is not good solution, so no any seamless background won't be as effective.

As also been mentioned when Joel Grimes do his shot he often takes into account the background he is gonna use, and light his subject accordingly. Op will need a static setup.

Lifetouch is a company that takes school pictures at all the schools here (I hate that company, but that's an other story). They use a grey cloth backdrop and you can select the background you want beforehand or they'll just pick one for you. There must be a fast and easy way to do this, they shoot thousands of kids. The photos look ok, I guess their backdrops are all lit to match with the standard setup they use with their strobes, but I can't imagine somebody sits there and tediously masks out every stray hair. I just looked at the ones from my daughter, every hair is there. It looks like a photo taken outside in the shade with one extra light/flash. Maybe you can find something on youtube? I'd think they have this automated in PS.

phantelope wrote in post #17627981
Lifetouch is a company that takes school pictures at all the schools here (I hate that company, but that's an other story). They use a grey cloth backdrop and you can select the background you want beforehand or they'll just pick one for you. There must be a fast and easy way to do this, they shoot thousands of kids. The photos look ok, I guess their backdrops are all lit to match with the standard setup they use with their strobes, but I can't imagine somebody sits there and tediously masks out every stray hair. I just looked at the ones from my daughter, every hair is there. It looks like a photo taken outside in the shade with one extra light/flash. Maybe you can find something on youtube? I'd think they have this automated in PS.

Most of these companies use in-house software, with varying degree of success.

I guess that's also possible