Question for the digi gals

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jfugina
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Question for the digi gals

Post by jfugina »

So, this afternoon, my sister and I are going to try to take the super-cheap route for our holiday photos of our kids. We both have nice digi cameras and PSE, and I also have various plain color backdrops.

What I was wondering, is if anyone had done any photo background substitution before, and if so,

1. Where did you get the backgrounds (specifically looking for holiday stuff)
2. Do you have an advice about blending the subjects with the substituted background?

If this doesn't work out, we'll bite the bullet and take them to Sears, but we'd at least like to try our own hand first, before we sit in the studio for hours waiting to get through the whole process during a busy holiday time.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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pbp908
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Re: Question for the digi gals

Post by pbp908 »

Julie - Let me think about this for a bit. I can tell you that the first thing you'll want to do is use a background that has a distinctly different color from anything everyone is wearing. You're going to have to erase the entire background in order to replace it - basically you turn your photo into a transparency. If you leave anything from the old bg in the photo, it's going to look very faked. I'll get back to you after I do a little bit of research on bgs for you.

Pam
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neith

Re: Question for the digi gals

Post by neith »

what about creating a christmas scene to take photos in front of?
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pbp908
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Re: Question for the digi gals

Post by pbp908 »

After looking around at what's available (not much that's affordable), I like Neith's suggestion. One of my favorite pics of eldest son was made with the tree in the background. (Wonder where that picture is???) I'd use the portrait setting so the background is blurred and it'll be beautiful. Use some strategically placed mirrors to help add light so you don't end up with harsh flash. My other suggestion is to create your own background using a scenic picture - there are many royalty free photos on the net that you can download and then add an artistic filter to. If you want a studio type monochromatic backdrop, I did find some freebies at: www.photomorphix.com/Free.htm

Or download some Christmas digi frames and insert those around your pictures. There are many sites with free Christmas downloads available.

Pam
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Holly

Re: Question for the digi gals

Post by Holly »

Julie you could always use a real pretty Christmas paper instead of a whole
backdrop. You know get rid of your plain background and layer that onto a pretty digi paper. After all-- a lot of those Christmas backgrounds look one dimensional anyway.
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jfugina
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Re: Question for the digi gals

Post by jfugina »

Thanks gals. Well, it would seem that I have more time to figure out an answer, or make an appointment at Sears. Our home photo shoot was an absolute disaster. We had two 2yo's and a 5yo who wasn't really acting much better. We were in my basement where there is the most room, but the problem was that that's also where there are the most toys. My niece wouldn't cooperate at all, and when she did come into the sitting, she brought a toy that Jake wanted, and they just fought until someone got up and left. And then, looking through the photos, my sister's are all terribly grainy (how does that happen with a digi camera???), and mine are all out of focus. I had a fixed focal length lens that is very fast. But I guess my ability to manually focus is awful. And of course you couldn't see that on the little preview screen.

So after hundreds of shots, we don't have a darn thing that's usable. I'm still going to try to get some shots of my own kids with a different (auto focus, for starters) lens, and if I can figure out that issue, maybe we'll try again. But we'll have to set up shop somewhere else - like my bedroom or somewhere that there are NO TOYS. Oy, what a disaster!

By the way - Pam, I am not a PSE pro yet (not by a long shot), but I did have pretty good luck removing the background with the shots. For several, we used a purple background - a color that no one was wearing - just so that it would be easier to extract. The little magic wand was a great start, but another problem to add to the pile was the whispy static-y hair that both my daughter and niece were sporting. I'd be spending hours with the erasing. Ug.
Julie Fugina
#26 in the order of the PAO
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