When two people become joined together in marriage, it can be the high-spot in their lives – the occasion they will remember for the rest of their time together.
To keep those memories alive, they will invariably engage the services of a wedding photographer – the one person who can add, if you like, more perfection to an already perfect occasion. The wedding photographer’s job is to capture the mood of the occasion, the celebrations and, above all, skilfully reproduce lasting images of the main participants, the bride and groom.
Finding the right backgrounds for the photographs isn’t always easy. Inside the church, a stained glass window might be a help – if it’s in the right position. At the reception, the outside shots could be set up in a garden – if it’s pretty enough and there are plenty of flowers. Sometimes a background of a trellis covered with flowers – if there is one – can be a very satisfactory background. But finding the right location can be very tricky and time-consuming – more so when it’s pouring with rain!
But there are ways to add that something extra to the bride and groom shots, that sets them apart from the run-of-the-mill photographs you see in 99% of wedding albums. And, with a green screen and chroma key software, it’s a lot easier and less expensive than you think.
You can set up the screen in almost any location, outdoors if the garden’s not up to scratch, inside if it’s pouring with rain. You point two lights facing the centre of the screen, and use a third to illuminate the happy couple.
Take plenty of photographs of the couple in many different poses, then ask the groom to step out of the picture and take singles of the bride from as many different angles as possible. Get her to show her joy and elation at the start of her new life with her husband, who can show the photos with pride to his friends.
The main work is done afterwards in your studio, where you use green screen technology to add the exotic and colourful background that the couple choose to help them relive the happy occasion – waterfalls, sunsets, gardens, flowers, beaches, seascapes and so on.
All you need to do is select the most appropriate background, and combine it with your original photograph. You might want to set the couple on a set of marble steps leading to the entrance of an old church, place them in the courtyard of an ancient castle or against a dramatic seascape. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by your own imagination and your own creativity.
Setting up a green screen studio will enable you to create photographs that will give lasting joy to the happy couple and their families and also enhance your reputation as a wedding photographer and enable you to increase the fees for your services.
Denis Devlin
Get your free guide to green screen photography and discover how easy it is to shoot wedding photos that will delight your customers. Go to www.perfectapicture.com
