Green Screen Photography

Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome back to “Taking Photographs.” Today we are going to take a look at "Green Screen photography". Green screen photography has many different uses. One of the most common uses is seen through news broadcasts. When you are watching the weather, or a news article that has different backgrounds, the backgrounds are usually created through the use of green screen technology. The main purpose of green screen is to change the background(s)

for the photos and videos that you are working with. Changing the background in a photograph is nothing new. Depending on the situation, changing the background can do lots of different things for the photograph. Today I will demonstrate the use of green screen technology and how it can enhance your own photographs. In the last few weeks I have taken several photographs with different models using green screen. I liked the photos but I didn’t like the plain, boring green background. When you change the background, the photograph comes to life.

In order to make green screen work, you will need the following items: • Good lighting • A green screen software program (This is the program that will remove the photograph from the green screen background and place it on the new background of your choosing) • A green screen backdrop (or a chroma blue backdrop) • A Photoshop software program In order to have a good photograph, you have to have good lighting. (We already know this so what does this have to do with green screen photography?) If you don’t have good lighting, your photos will come out dark. If your photos come out too dark, you could end up with unwanted shadows, or digital noise. Remember, if you are looking for a specific look to enhance your photograph, you must have good lighting.

A good green screen also program is needed if you intend on swapping out your boring, green screen images. Westcott makes a good software program that will help you learn all about green screen. FXhome PhotoKey is also a good software program to use.

You will also need a green screen backdrop cloth, or a green screen collapsible background, or green screen paper to help you get started. If you look at the third bullet, I wrote “chroma blue. Chroma blue is similar in color to “Dodger blue”. This color has the same effect as a regular green screen background. If you are shooting models, please remind them that some of their outfits will literally disappear from the photograph. (Please don’t confuse this with X-ray vision) The clothing as well as the body parts will disappear from the screen. The last thing that you will need is Photoshop. You can use either the latest version, or an earlier version. You can also use Photoshop Elements, also known as the “baby brother” of the larger programs. When you are taking photographs, sometimes a wrinkle will pop up in the green screen cloth. This wrinkle will also show up in your new background and photograph that you are working on. To fix this, perform the following steps: 1. Open Photoshop on your computer 2. Select the “Eyedropper” tool 3. Use the eyedropper to select a portion of the green background from the original photo. 4. Open up the “Brush” tool 5. Go to “Layer” and click “Duplicate Layer” 6. Go back to the Brush tool and select a brush that you would like to work with. (Use the brush tool slider to increase/decrease the size of the brush that you are working with) 7. Paint the area of the photo that has the wrinkles in in. (Photoshop tip: If you zoom in on the photo that you are painting, it will be easier to paint. If you are going to be working with green screen a lot, invest in a Wacom Tablet, A Wacom Pen, or if you are using the I-pad Pro, the I-pad Pencil. These items will make your green screen life last a lot longer!) 8. Save the image by renaming the image. (Make an additional copy or two just in case you want to use the same image with another background) 9. Open up your green screen software program. (Time saver: Take a copy of the image that you finished painting and the background and place them in the same folder) 10. Export your image to the folder that you are working with.

This is a basic introductory step by step green screen process that I teach to my students. When you get a chance, take some green screen photos and practice creating some masterpieces. Thank you for once again taking the time to read my latest blog. Stay tuned as we tackle another issue next week that will hopefully help you take better photographs. Until next time, keep taking great photos!