Best Way to Shoot on Gray???

Bilsen

This Saturday I start a year long project with my top model (see my avatar) and I need some final advice. The project involves shooting in the accurate wardrobe of various countries (ie: a sari from Indi, a kimono from Japan). Until we can get outdoors, we are going to shoot several indoor sets on seamless with the intention of having appropriate country BKG digitally dropped in. I have a casting out for retouchers in case I'm not satisfied with my own ability to do the drop ins in CS5/6.


On the advice of some pros, we are shooting on #27 Thunder Gray seamless paper. I have two questions:


1) Is there any special technique or lighting I should use to make it easier to cut Cyndi out of the gray and drop in the BKG??


2) What's the best way of being sure the seamless stays flat? I've had a problem with the floor piece getting creases and bumps in it.

Thanks to all in advance.

anonymouscuban

1) Is there any special technique or lighting I should use to make it easier to cut Cyndi out of the gray and drop in the BKG??

IME, the more contrast you have between the model (and all her bits and pieces) and the background, the easier it will be to mask her out. Use the Quick Selection and Refine Mask tool in CS5(6) to do the task. If the color in the BG is even, you can try using the Color Selection tool first, instead of the Quick Selection tool. I have mixed results with this though. I would also recommend using a similar light setup to Joel Grimes so that the light direction on the model matches the scene you drop her into. He uses a 3-light setup. Basically a main with two kickers on either side of the model. This creates light coming from all directions and makes it more believable when you drop them in. This setup also makes it easier to mask the model since the rim light from the kickers really help to separate the model from the BG.

2) What's the best way of being sure the seamless stays flat? I've had a problem with the floor piece getting creases and bumps in it.

Piece of large, clear plexi-glass on the floor, on top of the seamless works well. It will keep the paper in place and also protect it when the model stands on it. However, if you're going to mask the BG out, this shouldn't be too much of a concern.

Hope that is helpful. Not the greatest example but this is a selfie I goofed around with. The lighting is not perfect nor is the selection/composite but I did this in all of a 10 minutes. With time, I think you can make a very believable composite.



BTW, the photo of the BG you'll will drop her in will be just as important as the model-shot. I assume you will be using stock images for some of the shots. I'd look for shots that were taken from the same perspective as the model is shot. You may even want to start with the BG image first, figure out the perspective it was shot at (or close) and shoot the model the same way. I.E. Height, angle, focal length, DOF, etc.

Bilsen

Gracias Cuban.

Art Scott

Bilsen wrote: »

This Saturday I start a year long project with my top model (see my avatar) and I need some final advice. The project involves shooting in the accurate wardrobe of various countries (ie: a sari from Indi, a kimono from Japan). Until we can get outdoors, we are going to shoot several indoor sets on seamless with the intention of having appropriate country BKG digitally dropped in. I have a casting out for retouchers in case I'm not satisfied with my own ability to do the drop ins in CS5/6.


On the advice of some pros, we are shooting on #27 Thunder Gray seamless paper. I have two questions:


1) Is there any special technique or lighting I should use to make it easier to cut Cyndi out of the gray and drop in the BKG??


2) What's the best way of being sure the seamless stays flat? I've had a problem with the floor piece getting creases and bumps in it.

Thanks to all in advance.

1- keep the lighting of the BKG flat or a constant contrast... doe not matter if the bkg is grey, white or what ever...just keep the tonal range the same to make it easy to drop out....

2- my experience with seamless was that it stayed flat nothing special needed...because of the way i had it on a roll I had to tape the front end to keep from rolling back up...so I gaff taped the front corners... then I sent to cloth, less expensive and i like it so much more... i would never use paper agin unless the client demanded it... jmvho

3- a lot of problems with dropping out a background is actually in dropping it out of the hair, if the hair style is poofy with holes in it for the bkg showing thru....this can become a tedious venture then... ...


Good Luck on this endeavor...sounds very cool.

anonymouscuban

Actually, CS5(6) makes masking hair much, much easier than with past versions of PS. The trick is to use the Refine Edge tool.

There are tons of tuts online that show how amazing this tool is and how to best use it. Did a quick Google search and here is the first non-Youtube hit I got. I'm sure there are better tuts but just a start.

http://www.twin-pixels.com/the-refine-edge-tool-quick-photoshop-tutorial/

Bilsen

Thanks again Alex. You're right about the hair being the big problem.

I'm actually very familiar with the refine edge tool and I love it. I'll experiment with it next week after the shoot but if I can't get it right, I may hire a retoucher for 2-3 of each scene.

Hackbone

Tape the bkg to the floor so it doesn't scoot around and watch the clothing color so it doesn't meld into the bkg. I just love Topaz Remask for pulling the subject out and it is fairly inexpensive. Chimp after the first shot of each outfit and adjust the bkg light to give that separation.