Green Screen Glamour Photography Made Easy: How to Create Beautiful Composite Glamour Images Using Green Screen Technology

Green Screen Glamour Photography Made Easy

How to Create Beautiful Composite Glamour Images Using Green Screen Technology

By Jack Watson

Green Screen Glamour Photography Made Easy: How to Create Beautiful Composite Glamour Images Using Green Screen Technology

Copyright © 2011 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1405 SW 6th Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34471.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Watson, Jack, 1947-

Green screen glamour photography made easy : how to create beautiful composite glamour images using green screen technology with DVD & software / by Jack Watson.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-673-1 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60138-673-7 (alk. paper)

1. Glamour photography. 2. Photography--Special effects. 3. Cinematography--Special effects. 4. Computer graphics. 5. Digital video. I. Title.

TR678.W375 2011

778.9’974692--dc22

2011001444

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

FXhome PhotoKey 3 Pro™ software is copyrighted by FXhome Limited, and its use in this book is made possible by the generous assistance provided by FXhome. Neither Jack Watson or Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc is affiliated with FXhome Limited or its software.

18 U.S.C. 2257 Statement

In compliance with the Federal Labeling and Record-Keeping Law (also known as 18 U.S.C. 2257), all models shown in this book were 18 years of age or older during the time of photography. All models proof of age are held in Ocala, Florida by Atlantic Publishing Company. All content and images are in full compliance with the requirements of 18 U.S.C. 2257 and associated regulations.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Brief History of Green Screen Photography

Chapter 2: When to Use Green or Blue Screen Backdrops

Chapter 3: Importance of the Light Meter

Chapter 4: Background Lighting

Chapter 5: Foreground Lighting

Chapter 6: Key Light Source and Positioning

Chapter 7: Selecting the Background for the Foreground Image

Chapter 8: Rule of Thirds Creates the Perfect Composition

Chapter 9: Dealing with Green and Blue Fringe

Chapter 10: Shadowing for Realty

Chapter 11: Software for Green Screen Removal

Chapter 12: Gallery of Before and After Examples Explained

About the Author

Acknowledgements

A camera and a photographer are only two-thirds of the glamour photograph equation. Without beautiful models to photograph, this book would not have been written. My praise and endless thanks to my great friends and always available models Jennifer, Trisha, Heather, Suzie, Alexa, Gail, Bernie, Brittini, Heidi, Lisa, Jamie Lee, Samantha, Danielle, Mia, Tali, and Nikki. Without your tireless effort and beautiful looks, this would just be another ordinary book on photography. Special thanks to my friends, Jeff and Peggy for providing me their beautiful Smoky Mountains cabin as a retreat during the writing of this book. Thanks to Brad Goldbach for his brilliant editing of my technical manuscript. You simplified a complex subject brilliantly. My publisher, Doug Brown, deserves special recognition, and thanks. I am honored that you believe in me and continue to support my writing endeavors. The layout and design of this book is a tribute to the incredible Jackie Miller. She amazes me with her artistry and passion for taking words and photos and crafting them into something beautiful.

A very special thanks is in order for the generous support and assistance provided by FXhome®, its founder Joshua Davies, and senior staff members Lucy Harvey and Simon Jones. Your amazing PhotoKey 3 Pro® keying software has truly changed my photographic perspective, and because of you, I have become a much better image creator.

My dear friend Mary Thornton, president of www.starwearusa.com, the most amazing swimwear company on the planet, graciously provided wardrobe for the majority of images in this book.

Additional thanks to my dear friend Dave Hurley, who showed me the beauty of the Bahamas aboard his magnificent yacht and gave me the opportunity to photograph its beautiful beaches.

Last, but most important, I must express my undying gratitude and love for the support and tolerance of my first and best model, my lovely wife Leigh.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Because you are reading this book, you must love photography. You look forward to shooting pictures, and you are always looking for new ways to capture images. Some of you might not have the budget to go places that are far away and shoot models on location. All of us envy the top shooters who seem to have large, expansive budgets to go just about anywhere and shoot anything.

Most working photographers feel limited in their scope of locations and available places to shoot. As budgets get increasingly smaller for beauty and advertising assignments, we will all feel that pinch to do it less expensively than flying to a distant location.

As a professional photographer, I have been lucky for most of my career. I have been shooting on location in foreign countries for 30 years, and I would not trade those experiences for anything in the world. Many of my clients paid me and my crews handsomely to go to exotic locations, and the budgets have always been large enough to hire assistants to carry equipment, fly in models, lodge in great hotels, eat good food, and purchase other luxuries. These perks have added to my reputation as an expensive travel and lifestyle shooter, who always comes back with the perfect image.

I would not say it has been an easy career, as there are inherent problems and dangers in traveling to many of the places I have worked. We have worked in well over 170 counties on all seven continents, and it has not been all fun and games. However, we have had the budgets to go anywhere to shoot models and assignments that many people in this career only dream about. My website (www.billbachmann.com) shows many of those assignments.

In the last ten years, I have seen many budgets shrink drastically, and clients now worry about all the line items in the estimate, much more than they did previously — and it does not appear that it will improve much in the near future. Budgets are likely to stay low for some time.

In today’s economic climate, photographers feel a crunch when taking models on location that he or she did not feel previously. And some photographers can no longer afford to go on location at all. This is where photographer Jack Watson’s technology and expertise can help. In his new book Green Screen Glamour Photography Made Easy, Watson discusses wonderful techniques that enable photographers to shoot in the studio while still creating photos that look as if they were shot on location. All of these suggestions can be found right here in the book you hold in your hands.

I have known of Watson’s beauty and glamour photography for some time. He is an expert at shooting models and getting non-models to look their absolute best. I have shot on location with him and have long admired his abilities and techniques. He is far ahead of me in the technology surrounding this type of photography. Now, you have a book that can give you suggestions to make your images look as good as Jack’s.

I have written 15 books of my own, so I know all the work that went into this book. Green Screen Glamour Photography Made Easy is the perfect tool for all photographers who still shoot on location, but sometimes need to bring the location into the studio. With green screen technology, all the visas, passports, missed connections, and bad airplane food — not to mention lugging bags over mountains — can now be replaced by the comforts of your studio. The hassles of traveling are a thing of the past.

I know Jack well, and he does not do anything halfway. This book will provide photographers with step-by-step procedures to achieve results that are as good as, if not better than, being on location. No more weather delays, hotel charges, taxis, heavy equipment, and other negative aspects inherent with traveling on location.

It is my hope that all photographers are still able to shoot on location, but green screen technology is likely to become very popular in the future. Personally, I know that not having to rush or worry about weather delays would make my life easier! Due to the likelihood of this technology’s future popularity, I would suggest you take these methods seriously and use them whenever you can. With the methods described in this book, when you do not have the budget to go far away, you can bring far away to you!

I admire what Jack does with a camera and a computer. Now, his expertise is in this book for you to take advantage of, allowing you to improve your techniques and abilities. I hope you enjoy this ride into the technology of the 21st century. Use it to show your clients the benefits and usefulness of green screen as it applies to your own photography. And, hey, if you can avoid unnecessary back pain by not lugging equipment to exotic locations around the world, it sounds like a win-win situation.

Good luck in the process of learning this new technology, and be sure to share your success stories with the author. I am sure he would love to hear how it has bettered your photography and your business.

Bill Bachmann

Florida & the Earth

www.billbachmann.com

Author’s note: My friend and fellow photographer Bill Bachmann is one of, if not the most, prolific stock photographers in the world. His travel photos are second to none and have graced the pages of hundreds of magazines and global ad campaigns. I encourage you to look at his work, which can be found on his website (www.billbachmann.com). You probably see one of his famous images every week. He is an incredible artist and an inspiration to other photographers.

Table of Contents

Introduction

For several decades, the art of visual illusion created by the use of green screen, and to a lesser degree, blue screen image captures, has been a luxury reserved for the backlot of a major movie studio or the world of broadcast television. The process turned many films into blockbusters. With advancements in software and computer technology, the average moviemaker or photographer can now produce composite images that would have cost thousands of dollars to produce just a few years ago. Now, these images can be created with an extremely modest budget.

This technology is the backbone of modern film and television production. For example, you see this process used every day on the local news when the meteorologist gives you the day’s forecast in front of a weather map.

This book teaches you how to adapt these green screen, and to a lesser extent, blue screen techniques to make believable composite photographs. The advancements of digital cameras allow you to now hold these powerful techniques in the palm of your hand. The world of photography has changed forever from the old-fashioned darkroom.

In the