DIGITAL DIRECTIONS*I Mr I ilil Ir.in-.liiiin lin.ii|i- Virw Wimluw Help

Creation of graduated backgrounds in graphics packages.

Graduated paper backgrounds in studio.

Final tabletop image using paper graduated backgrounds.

Background image of clouds, jet and composite image.

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This screen shot shows the border selection process.

24

DigitalSUCCESSFUL DIGITAL photography in the photo lab

today depends on offering new services. Providing just the ba-sic services may not be enough to support digital photography.If you look closely at the type of work your clients perform, youmay be able to add special digital services to enhance theirwork and increase income to your business. Digital back-grounds offer commercial photographers variety in back-ground choices as well as the answer to salvaging those prob-lem photo session.

The first type of digital background is for use before a photois taken and usually applies to small product photography.When the client needs the background to be graduated incolor and yet have the small product fully lit, the photogra-pher can quickly become frustrated trying to perform magictricks. The solution, of course, is your traditional and digitalphoto lab. Using a graphics program that has a blendingfunction, you merely create a unique graduated background

PHOTO LAB MANAGEMENT

•

H

Original shot of ice sculpture. The background makes the shot!

Backgrounds Jack and Sue Drafahl

file in your computer system and printthe file on photographic paper.

Let us suppose that a client wants a16x20" color sweep background that goesfrom blue to black. Load your computerwith a program that allows blends insideshapes. Draw a rectangle that has thesame proportions as the final print andstretch it to fit the output page size.Select the blend function and assign thetop of the rectangle to black, and thenassign blue to the bottom of the rectangleand set the blend steps to at least 125. Ifyou are creating a blend from one color toanother, set the blend steps to at least200 to achieve a smooth gradation. Someprograms do not have this control, so

NOVEMBER -1994

trial and error may be necessary.Save the file, and send the image to a

film recorder loaded with color negativefilm. When printing the negative on colorpaper, use matte paper, as the glossy willcreate reflection problems in the studio.After you have aligned the image in theenlarger, turn the focus slightly out-of-focus so that the grain and dust spots willnot show in the final print.

If the client has specific Pantone colorneeds in the background, most comput-er programs now have these colors list-ed. When using Pantone colors in yourblend, you should also make a gray scaleimage so that color balance in the dark-room is easier.

Another popular type of photo back-ground are those with the feel of texturesuch as marble, wood, slate and cloth.You can use your flatbed scanner to scanin a variety of flat materials such as car-pet, tile, Formica, cloth, or wood. The flatlighting of the scanner evenly lights thesubject and is much faster than settingup and lighting the materials in the stu-dio. These texture files can then beimaged and printed on color paper foruse as backgrounds in the photo studio.

The second use for digital backgroundscomes into effect after the photo is taken.In this scenario, circumstances are suchthat the photographer does not have a

(Continued on page 26)

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Digital Backgrounds(Continued from page 25)

suitable background behind the subject.The photographer takes the image any-way and expects you to pull a rabbit outof your hat and fix the background. Youwould simply scan in the image, selectthe subject away from the background,and replace it with a new background.Sounds simple enough, right?

In most cases, the cluttered back-ground is replaced with one that grad-uates from one color to black. If thebackground is all one similar color, startby selecting the background with the"magic wand" tool, which selects similarcolors in the background. If the back-grounds contain many variations ofcolor, you will have to use the manualselect tool to trace the edges of the sub-ject and background. This may soundlike a lengthy task, but in most cases a30 to 50 megabyte file will only take 10-15 minutes to trace manually.

Once the background is selected, youwould then replace it with a new one thatis created with the "graduated" tool or animage that has been loaded into the clip-board. Before you de-select the back-ground, select the "border" tool and set itto 3 pixels wide. Then select the "aver-age" tool and use a 2-4 pixel average onthe border. When you activate this func-tion, the computer will calculate the databetween the foreground subject and thenew background and make a pleasingblend. Save out the file and send theimage to a film recorder or digital colorprinter.

You may think that this scenario isnot very common, but read on as weshow you some examples of how thesedigital backgrounds have helped ourimaging business.

With our business, we see both sides ofa project. We have a full processing lab,both traditional and digital, and we alsodo commercial photo location sessions forour clients. In one situation a client need-ed a photo of a very large piece of elec-tronic equipment that was located rightin the middle of a work area. The equip-ment was massive and could not bemoved, and vast amounts of electricalcords protruded from the back of the sys-tem. In previous sessions with other pho-tographers, they had allowed a full dayfor the photographer to set up back-grounds, get the lighting, shoot Polaroids,and photograph the final images.

In our case, the client only had thepiece of equipment in the building forone day and the engineers were running

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Digital Backgrounds(Continued from page 26)

tests on it all day. The only time avail-able for photos was during the hourlunch break. We arrived 30 minutesbefore the break so we would be readyto set up the lights and camera as soonas the engineers exited. The backgroundwas of no concern. We only had time tosee that the equipment was framed,focused, and was uniformly lit. We were

only able to knock off a dozen shots be-fore the engineers returned.

Upon return to the lab, we processedthe 4x5s, had one scanned with a 4x5Leaf scanner and loaded the image intoour computer. Using the "manual select"tool we outlined the machinery and"inverse selected" the background anddropped in a new background that was

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graduated from blue to black. We usedthe "border" and "average" tools tosmoothly blend the subject and back-ground. The final image was then export-ed and imaged to 4x5 film on our filmrecorder. Color prints were then made inthe lab and were displayed at tradeshows and used in brochures. We esti-mated the cost of the digital backgroundverses the full day shoot to be compara-ble. The difference is the engineers wereable to work on the equipment all day.

In another case, we had to create animage of a Nikonos V camera systemwith three different variations on a bluegraduated background. The problemwas twofold: we had only one camerasystem to use, and the camera's blacksurface picked up the reflections of theblue colors. The photo solution was toshoot a single system in three differentposes on a white background. Eachimage was scanned into the computersystem, and a composite image was cre-ated. The background was then selectedand the blue graduation was inserted.

Our last example is really one for thebooks. As we were just packing up ourgear from a photo session for a resort,the manager came out and asked us ifwe could quickly photograph an icesculpture. It weighed several hundredpounds, and it was melting as we spoke.There was no time for fancy lighting orsetting up a background, so we set uptwo 45-degree lights, a camera on a tri-pod, and took a half dozen shots beforethey whisked the sculpture off to thebanquet table. The images wereprocessed in our lab, scanned into thecomputer, and edited, dropping in sever-al new backgrounds.

The key to a profitable digital photolab is understanding its unlimited po-tential. Both your lab personnel andyour clients need to see just what can bedone. This is best accomplished withexamples. Making samples showseverybody what you can do. It will alsolet you know if you are biting off morethan you can chew.

We have shown you how to add digitalbackgrounds to your repertoire of elec-tronic magic tricks. Go and give it a tryand find one more way to make the digi-tal photo lab work for you and yourclients.

Jack and Sue Drafahl own and operate a customlab in Portland, OR. They are also professionalphotographers, specializing in underwater pho-tography.

28 For Fast Response Circle 572 PHOTO LAB MANAGEMENT