Inspired by Dia De Los Muertos

Ever since I was introduced to pin-up photography, I began to see more and more shots like the one above across the web. It had me quite intrigued. While I wouldn't categorize the shots in this post as pin-up by any means, it seems to be pin-up models who have a great appreciation to participate in this type of shoot.

I've always wanted to do a "Muertos" shoot, and thanks to one of my favorite makeup artists asking me, I was finally able to get one under my belt. Neither of the models pictured in this post are actual pin-up models. In fact, one of the models (Caro) has never modeled in front of the camera. I chose the other model, Andrea Gilliam, because I thought her brown hair and brown eyes, along with her facial features, would be a good fit for the makeup she would be wearing.



I think if I could do it over again, there is a couple of considerations I would give more attention. The first would be a realistic start time. With the days getting shorter, after planning to shoot outside, getting an early start on a style of shoot you have never done before is paramount. Makeup alone is a very lengthy process; a two hour minimum per model is not uncommon for a muertos shoot. And then they have to have elaborate hair as well. Add another model to the mix, and you quickly realize the project requires a lot of preparation.



The second thing I would plan a little better is the type of shots I want to get. During this recent shoot, light was falling out of the sky faster than I could secure my creative beanie atop my head. As a result, I found myself directing the models to do fashion poses in a pinch. It didn't really feel appropriate, but at that point I was just happy to get close up shots of Tabi's makeup work for her. While setting up scenarios probably would have been a better option for the location, I am still happy with the shots I captured during the shoot.



One more thing I would consider is shooting this concept in the studio. That way you have more control over light, you can feel free to spend a little more time being more creative with makeup and hair, and you can basically shoot until everyone is yawning and starting to complain about how late it is. The next time I am asked to shoot a muertos concept, I will suggest the studio unless there is a prime location involved.

POSH Makeup by Tabi
Marly's Hair and Makeup
Andrea Gilliam imagery by Eric Courtney
Think Tunk Productions Facebook Page

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Green Screen for Still Photography

Anybody who is interested in chroma key photography may find this interesting. If you're not familiar with the term chroma key, it is basically the process of compositing multiple images using green screen or blue screen technology. It may sound complex, and it can be very complex depending on the project you are working on, but for this post I am only sharing some samples of my experience creating still-photo portraits using the process.

We've all seen films like The Matrix, Avatar and Spider-man. Today's cinema blockbusters are using this technology to catapult films into huge money making film attractions. But it's not just big budget studios using the technology. Low budget independent films and even online video-bloggers have easy access to the technology, and many are using it effectively. While I have played around with it in some test videos, it is still-photos that I am playing around with right now.



The small image of Sacramento model Courtney Riggs (above) is a raw photo straight out of my Nikon DSLR. As you can see, Courtney is posing in front of a green background. A very bright green background. The photo below is the end result using the chroma key process. As you can obviously see, there is a dramatic difference to the image, yet still very much the same image.



If you have ever extracted the background, or foreground, of an image to combine different images into one, or create effects, odds are you have used the marquee tool in Photoshop or another photo editing application at some point throughout the process. Chroma Keying let's you eliminate that time intensive technique by eliminating the green or blue hue with one click of your paint bucket or one short pass with your background eraser tool. Of course this is all assuming you are extracting on a budget.



There are plugins for Photoshop and stand-alone applications that will allow you to eliminate the green or blue hues from your images with precision accuracy. But they're not free. Digital Anarchy has a plugin for Photoshop that has a pretty good reputation. It is called Primatte Chromakey. There is also a stand-alone application called PhotoKey 3, and it is available for both Mac and Windows environments. Prices for both range from $150-$300, so you can start creating your own masterpieces within a relatively reasonable budget.



Of course you can always do it the hard way, like I did, without the aid of specialized software. But keep in mind, chroma key software was developed to easily correct all the mistakes one can make from doing it themselves using only a Photoshop extraction technique. One of those corrections is the correction of color cast or spill.

Color spill (or cast) is the result of color cast onto your subject via a reflective colored surface. When you use a blue or green screen as a backdrop, you are going to deal with the color of that backdrop effecting the visual area of your subject. Even after it appears that you have eliminated all the color to be extracted in your image. The closer your model is to the backdrop, the more spill you are going to deal with in the post processing stage. The farther away from the backdrop your model is, the lower the reflective area of color hitting your subject you will have to deal with.

So if you opt to do it yourself, prepare for a little trial and error. There are plenty of instructional books out there as well as tutorials online that will help guide you along the way.

One other benefit from using green screen as your backdrop, is that you can save a bundle of money on buying actual backdrops for portrait sittings. You have all the control in the world over color and patterns to place behind your subject instead of dishing out over $150 for a Muslin backdrop that is going to be tired looking after three portrait sessions. Of course you may run into problems with that philosophy if your subjects insist on wearing a lot of green (or blue in front of blue screen). So having a couple of options is always best.

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