shooting for compositing, how?

[Bartvd]

Hi,
i would like to shoot a group of 10 people. but i would like to shoot them separately and put them together in one shot in PS.
How do i do this?
should i leave my camera at one position at all times?
How do you make sure perspective is correct?

thanks
Bart

[Sveltepig]

Re: shooting for compositing, how?

I am not a photographer, but have worked with many images where I've needed to composite people into one space, and the best results always come from images shot with the same lighting and preferably the same background.
If you are able to plan the order of the images (who stands next to whom etc) in advance, that is ideal. Then you can position each person in more or less the correct place in the studio (left, right, etc), and there won't be any weird lighting anomalies when you put them all together.
Also important is to keep the depth of field the same (if someone is closer that the others, they shouldn't have the same focal length as the others do), so if possible, use a tripod, focus on something in the centre of the room and then don't change these settings until after you've shot all 10 people. Also, shoot all people on the same day if possible, but if this will drastically affect the lighting, then try to shoot them all in a short space of time or on concurrent days with the same setup.
If your plan is to put all the people into another environment entirely for your composite, ensure that this environment uses the same lighting. In the same way, if you will be moving the people into a blue space, shoot with a blue backdrop.
Another good trick is to position each person on a slightly different plane (distance from the camera), so that they can overlap realistically when composited - this will help with the illusion, if the edges where they overlap are nicely finished off.
hope this helps

[Bartvd]

Re: shooting for compositing, how?

thanks,

what i would like to do is get everyone in focus. Thats why i like to shoot every person separately.
If i line the people up in space, having my camera on a tripod, can i pan my camera to each person and shoot or will i loose perspective that way?.

Kinda like shooting a panorama, panning and taking multiple shots of the scene.

That way i can focus best on each person, maybe perfecting the lightning on each.

I saw the BTS movies of Dave Hill. He is shooting things separately and composes the final image afterwards. Just cant figure out his camera setup.

[Sveltepig]

Re: shooting for compositing, how?

As I am not a photographer, I can't be sure if your panning will work, maybe try it on a quick test before you set up your actual composite shoot. I'm inclined to suggest that you don't change the focus much for each person - unless you can get the depth of field both very large and very crisp, this will make the composite look less effective as the people will not be in realistic focus towards one another.

[RobertAsh]

Re: shooting for compositing, how?

thanks,

what i would like to do is get everyone in focus. Thats why i like to shoot every person separately. ...That way i can focus best on each person, maybe perfecting the lightning on each.

Depends on what you mean and how the subjects will be situated - front to back, or side to side. Also, why do you want to shoot all 10 separately, will they not all be there at the same time?

Either way, you need depth of field or focus stacking or both. Also, make sure you don't move the camera or the lights if possible. If you must, then set them up again exactly the same way next time, same color, height, angle, everything. Light the whole area if possible and place each person where you want them, or it likely won't look realistic.

Other than that, Sveltepig has given some really good advice, I'd keep all his points in mind.

[Bartvd]

Re: shooting for compositing, how?

hi,
what i need to do is shoot a basketball team. i want everyone to be in a cool action move. no way to shoot that at once. So i would like to shoot everyone separately. i would love to shoot everyone in the studio and comp them together later. I see Dave Hill is doing this a lot. shooting action and comp it together later.
Thing is what do i have to keep in mind regarding camera position .

Thanks for the feedback.