The Key to Successful Chroma Key photography

 The Green screen technique has become the backbone of the entertainment industry, as an increasing number of producers are opting this for saving their production cost. This cutting-edge technique has allowed people to make amazing videos without breaking their bank or going out for an on-location shoot. Being simple, Chroma keying is no more limited to the big names of the industry. Even the professional photographers and videographers are buying green screen kits to impress their clients with stunning photographs having unbelievable backgrounds. However, if you miss the finer points while Chroma keying; you have to face a lot of keying headaches.

If you don’t want to sit for hours in front of the composting program, make sure you light the background as evenly as possible with no hot spots. Although most green screen software that comes with your green screen photography kit, has the required tools for correcting these flaws but the process is very much time-consuming. Therefore, keeping the background as uniformly lit as possible will make your post-production work much easier.

Never make your subject stand near to your green screen kit, especially the backdrop. The closer your subject, the more will be the color spills. Getting rid of these spills can be a nightmare for you and therefore, maintaining a healthy distance is advisable while shooting. The recommended distance between the subject and your backdrop is 6 to 10 feet.

The new background that you choose for your picture must have the same brightness and tone as that your picture. If the color contrast mismatches, your picture will not look natural. You can adjust the contrast during the post-production process but the extent of change that you can make it very limited. Therefore, you must try to match your background before Chroma keying.

Always adjust your camera settings to shoot at a higher resolution. This is because, the greater the resolution, the more will be the data available for the keyer to work with. Key at higher resolution and then, shrink the image to your requirements. This way you will be able to get more accuracy.

Just replacing the background is not sufficient; you need to make sure that the work is done accurately so that the final output seems real and not Chroma keyed.

What should be there in an ideal photographer’s kit?

Anyone who is into photography must have a photography kit that consists of all important equipments required for clicking the ideal shots. Professional photographers have a good understanding of what they would need for their assignments but amateurs, especially the ones who don’t have a mentor in this industry, will find it difficult to choose the right equipments for their kit. I keep receiving many queries from budding photographers about the equipments that they must buy or can avoid. To guide them and all other upcoming shutterbugs, here is a list of all those equipments that I feel you must have all the time; whether they are in their studio or at an on-location shoot. The list is very generic and will vary as per your assignment.

Chroma key backdrop and background stand

For portrait photography, product photography, wedding photography etc. your complete photo studio kit must have a backdrop against which you will feature your subject. Since you are new to this profession and do not have much to spend, buy reversible muslin blue and green Chroma key backdrop. The canvas ones would be expensive and moreover, you cannot carry them for on-location shoots. The Chroma key backdrops are multi-purpose and can also be used for green screen photography, if you try to get into it at a later stage. A backdrop stand is indispensable for holding the backdrop.

Tripod

You may not find it worth buying but like any other seasoned photographer; I would also recommend you to buy a tripod. Even professional photographers use them to give stability to their camera, thereby getting rid of camera shakes. A slight shaking of your hand can cause blurriness and destroy all your efforts. Your equipments are new to you and you are new to this profession. Investing in a tripod will be a wise decision for you.

Continuous lighting equipments

Don’t buy a flash unit or other related accessories; they are meant for experts who know how to position and use them. Using them is not as simple as it sounds. Until you get familiar with the lighting techniques, you should rely on continuous lighting equipments such as fluorescent bulbs, light stands, etc.

Lighting accessories

Photography is all about playing with light and to do this, you would need the diffusers and reflectors in your photography kit. Reflectors will help you to fill in the shadows by bouncing the existing light, whereas the diffusers will soften the harsh light coming out of the light source. This will give a natural look to your subject.

A notebook

Confused? Since you are new to this industry, you will be learning a new thing every time you pick-up your camera. Note down all these things for future reference. Keep the notebook handy whenever you are with your camera.

There can never be a complete photo studio kit because there are endless equipments and each of them is important for a particular situation. The above mentioned equipments are just some of the many options. Please feel free to share your list.

The Evolution of Green Screen Technology

Chroma keying has become the basis of photography these days. Almost every photographer has tried his/her hands on it. This technique has helped many creative shutterbugs to come up with unbelievable pictures and videos that would not have been possible otherwise. Although we have been involved in this in our day to day life, very few of us actually know how it all started. The initial experimentation started in 1930’s by Linwood Dunn, a pioneer of visual special effects. He used travelling mattes to create wipes for the movie ‘Flying down to Rio’. Later, in 1040s, Larry Butler used Dunn’s principles and along with blue screen backgrounds and technology for making the movie ‘The thief of Bagdad’ for which had won an Academy award. After this, the entire film industry began experimenting with this new technique. Among all of them, Arthur Widmer, a Warner Brother employee and ex-researcher of Kodak, came up with extremely useful techniques that helped him in making ‘The old man and the sea’. Arthur developed the ultraviolet travelling matte process.

The Chroma keying industry kept using their blue screen kit until the late 1970s when the keying color was finally changed to green from blue. However, the process was still under experimentation. From weather report to film footage, the Chroma keying effects were not accurate but the industry leaders didn’t give up. They kept polishing this technique till it became the future of photography.

After 8 decades, the background replacement technique has got a wider acceptance and is frequently used to create amazing pictures and videos without even moving out of your studio. The keying process has become so accurate that it’s difficult to judge if it’s a real picture or a Chroma keyed one.