I like the team pictures done this way. We did this for a youth basketball league and the feedback was mixed. Some parents liked it and some didn't. Have you had any negitive feedback?
The parents love them. I haven't had a single negative comment about them yet.
I'm thinking you guys are looking at them from a photographer/technical standpoint - which is expected here. Parents are looking at faces and the overall image.
This is cool stuff. I can see how this would be easier than wrangling 15 kids and two adults into an acceptable group shot, then trying to get the lighting to be even across the group, and get everybody in a good pose, with both eyes open, etc.
So you take an individual pose then another one you use for the group collage?
I also find the "floating body" to be a little distracting. Couldn't you just fill in the background that peeks out between the individuals with a less obvious color, or shoot the players/coaches closer to full-body?
Thanks for sharing your creative and very effective technique.
The gaps usually only become noticeable on smaller group shots. When the kids are either older or the team shot has more people in it, the gaps dissapear.
Thanks for the feedback, folks. I agree that the second image (above) is better than the first one I posted. I'll definitely try to avoid that problem in the future.
I really like what you have done and would like to thank you for posting these! I am going to have my first T&I shots in September and I think I am going to try this along with the traditional team shots to see which I like better.
Thank for clarifying. It almost looks like there is a shadow from each player, falling on the player behind them. Is this something you added in post, or did I miss where you described how you do this? Or is this just a case of my eyes "seeing" a shadow where it thinks one should be?
I add the shadow after positioning the individual pictures into the 5x7. Once I place them all appropriately - then scale them to look right - I go in and add shadows to create some depth. It helps the image quite a bit, I think.
James, A quick trick to view holes in your comps is to do a sat/hue adjustment layer on the background, then move the hue back and forth a lot. the distracting colors will pop through any holes in your comp.
Another idea is to add in a new layer right above the bg but nothing else and make it bright red.
lol, my wife walked by, and yelled "that kid doesn't have any arms". It took her a few seconds to figure out what it was. The arms were of course behind his back, but she knew there was something odd about the composite though it took her a little effort to identify it.
The missing arm thing is hard to deal with. It was especially problematic on a few of the individual shots, actually. Once the little kids grabbed the bat with one hand, then place the other one behind their back, all you saw was a kid that had an unfortunate accident with a wood chipper. When we caught it we'd tell them to 'hide their hand, not their arm'. The littler kids had completely ginormous shirts which exacerbated this problem quite a bit.
With the team pic, the missing arms would be a problem whether the shot was composited or not. All in all, that first team shot I posted has too much free space in it. I agree that it was done poorly and would benefit from being recomposed. The second shot is a much better example of my work (hopefully).
Rob Scriva wrote:
Actually that composite is awesome, great job lighting all of them individually. It doesn't look like one at all (apart from the missing legs).
Still learning PS.. but when you use the magic wand to take out the background, how do you or what do you do to clean up the edges of the photo that is left...(the player)
James uses Primatte. It's a program specifically aimed at pulling keys (a key is the term for a single color background that can easily be extracted or "pulled")
The program analyzes the color selected (in most cases green or blue) and will extract that color from the image, even so much as feathering or neutralizing the edges that get a little bit of spill.
If a really good key is done, it is possible to work with something like magic wand, but when it comes to things like hair, it's difficult. Translucence in general (veils, sheer clothing, etc) can cause headaches, which is why programs like Primatte are around.
Okay, I'll admit after following this thread and James' workflow, I decided to give this a whirl with my first T and I last weekend. Although I haven't quite mastered the lighting as of yet, I think this is a good first attempt. I must say that the players were very cooperative and did exactly what was asked. I told them to keep all appendages tight to their bodies when I did their individuals. Below is the end result. CC welcome...
