I made my green screen for a specific purpose: I've been thinking about making my own deck of tarot cards starring people I know. Now, I grew up in the deep south, where even Ouija boards are discouraged from slumber parties because parents don't want their kids messing with the occult. Tarot cards were also off limits, as was the section of the library dealing with UFOs and psychic powers like telekinesis or clairvoyance. Of course, that meant that I read nearly every book in that section while I was a pre-teen, including the entire Time-Life Mysteries of the Unknown series. I don't believe in any of that now, but I might think differently if I hadn't taken the opportunity to read through it exercise my critical thinking skills early on.

Still, I've only actually touched a deck of tarot cards once in my lifetime, at a high school party where I took over briefly for a fortune teller who had to take a trip to the loo. I guessed at the meaning of most of the cards. "Hmm...Death...I think that's bad."

I ran back across the concept of Tarot cards and the Major Arcana when I researched playing cards for my avian deck of cards. I found the system of names, symbols and illustrations to be intriguing, probably more so because they have a big mental 'VERBOTEN' and stamped on them.

My friend Dustin has kindly stepped up to pose for my first card, the Hermit.



First, I took a picture of my subject. The best time to take pictures outdoors is on a cloudy day when there are few shadows or during the morning or evening when the light is a little more mellow. Indoors, it helps to use a light diffuser. In either case, you'll want the green screen to be one color as much as possible.



Next, this is optional, but I usually paint over the extraneous bits of the picture with a prominent color selected from the green screen. It takes a few seconds and makes removing the background easier.



I then selected all of the background in Photoshop using a combination of the magic wand tool and the quick selection tool. If you don't have Photoshop, don't worry. Sumo Paint does almost the exact same things as PS, but it's free and functions in-browser. No need to download and install anything.



In the saturation menu I turned up the lightness in my selection as high as it would go. I then inversed the selection to cover my figure and turned the lightness all the way down.



Silhouettes are a fantastic way to get usable elements out of people who aren't professional models, especially if you are an amateur photographer. It doesn't matter if they are making a weird face, or blinking or wearing weird clothes. (Not that Dustin is doing any of that, though I looked really angry in most of the test shots we took.) It is just a way of capturing their form and reducing it to the most basic elements They're also great for screen printing: one color, only one screen needed, and no need to worry about finicky details.

Labels: projects

posted by Alison 4/28/2009 11:59:00 PM : (2) comments : splink