Questions about green screen photography.....?

Question

I want to be able to take photos and then add a background to them on the computer. Also do things like:
*Put a baby in a flower
*Add digital props

My question is.....
*Do I need a green screen software or could I just use my photoshop
*How exactly do you remove the green screen (If you can use photoshop do you just use the magic eraser?)
*I found the green screen backdrop but did not find a green sheet like thing for the floor (to sit or stand on)
*Is there a good digital backdrop and props website to buy cd's off (the one I found looks a little cheesy)

Answer 1

Good question!

You can use any colour you like (blue is common) as long as it contrasts with your subject. Even so you are going to need Photoshop afterwards to knock out your image. The advantage of a contrasting colour is that you can use channel-based selections using tools like the magic wand, which will give you speed if not accuracy (generally it's a compromise).

There are various proprietary knock-out software packages on the market - I'd do some research to see which one suits you best... it'll probably be a good investment if you're planning to do a fair bit of this kind of work.

Answer 2

It is unfortunate that chroma key has become "green screen". You can use the other primary colours as well, Blue and Red. Red is not used when shooting people because there is so much red in everyones skin. When shooting products that have blue and green in them, red is the only chroma key choice. What is practical is to tell everyone NOT to were green or blue depending upon what colour chroma key you are going to be using. If you have no need to shoot with chroma key, then use a black background. Just make sure that no light falls on it and that the person you are shooting is standing about three feet away from it. That should do it.

Answer 3

Use ANY bright/pure color not part of subject matter (green or blue is preferred)

In Photoshop:

Use "eyedropper" tool to select background color

Select>color range>sampled colors

Select>inverse

Paste selection into new file with a separate transparent background and then add props, background, etc. as needed.

You may need to do a little trial and error in order to completely lose any trace of background color so try it and if you see the background color on your borders, re-do select color range>inverse, then select>modify>contract (by a few pixels) until it's perfect.

Also, avoid "spill" of your background color onto your subject by keeping it about one stop less bright than your subject matter, AND keeping it as far away from your subject matter as you can.

Also, avoid reflective surfaces on your subject matter as it will reflect the background color.

Answer 4

http://www.canogacamera.com/detail.aspx?ID=35219

Here's the cloth