Many of my clients ask for unique backgrounds for their headshots or group portraits that feature beautiful office spaces, venues, or homes. These backgrounds are popular because they draw attention and interest, but capturing business portraits in these spaces isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons (e.g. access, logistics, weather/lighting limitations, etc.). So another option is to produce green screen headshots (also known as Chroma key) in the studio and replace the backgrounds in post production.

Here is a sample of a business headshot I photographed in-studio for a local realtor.

green screen headshot shot in studio

After this was photographed, we chose a background of a beautiful residential space and placed his business headshot into the background with some Photoshop magic. The background was “blurred” to draw attention to my client. It also allows his graphic designer to drop in a logo and a title in the space on the right of the image. Alternatively, the photo can be cropped closer if just the head and shoulders headshot is needed for web advertising or business cards.

green screen headshot for realtor

Another background was selected as well, and it was easy to place the headshot into a new space with little additional Photoshop editing required.

Some of the keys to making this all work are: the studio lighting placement, background selection, and colour grading. Knowing what the background will be in advance is important to making the final composite image look as realistic as possible.

Most of the backgrounds I prefer selecting have a brighter and/or generally muted colour palette, which helps to minimize the contrast between the headshot and the background. Knowing that the background is going to be generally brighter means adding some back lighting or rim lighting to the subject’s photo.

Colour grading or matching tones is another important ingredient. Compare the top image with the bottom one. Notice that the warmer skin tone of the top image fits better with the residential background due to the similar warmish tone.

Headshots from the green screen process rarely look as good as shooting in the actual space, but it’s an acceptable compromise when certain access or seasonal limitations keep us from shooting on location. One way to add fidelity to the image is to apply a tighter crop. This can usually help because it removes much of the background distraction, but includes just enough of the background to maintain context.

green screen headshot cropped

If you would like more information about producing headshots, group photos, or commercial images using this green screen technique, feel free to drop me a line!

These two studio headshots were photographed at the same session with two lighting setups for two distinct looks. The Studio Dark look on the left conveys a more dramatic look, while the look on the right is brighter with softer lighting.

Studio lighting looks for headshots
Studio Dark (left) and Studio Bright (right) lighting looks

Notice the difference in shadows around the face. The headshot on the left has darker shadows around the jawline, which helps to shape my client’s face. The headshot on the right has more even lighting across the face, and appears softer and brighter overall.

Although both these headshots were photographed at the same time of day, the configuration of studio lights, type of modifiers and reflectors has a big impact on the overall look and feel of the headshots.

If you are looking to produce two different looks during your photo session, get in touch with us for details on what type of headshot session would work best to meet your goals.

These are a couple of Vancouver realtor headshots taken for a local agent this fall. As a successful realtor in the booming Metro Vancouver real estate market, Thomas wanted to produce a modern headshot to use for his marketing efforts to local and international clients. On a sunny morning this fall, I chose a quiet location with modern architecture where these natural light business portraits could be taken.

modern Vancouver realtor headshots in the Fall Vancouver realtor headshots outdoors

We decided on a location session to produce a unique set of business headshots. Studio headshot work well for most situations, but if you are looking for real estate agent photos that are unique to you, outdoor on-location headshots are often the best way to go.

I started with my usual studio lighting setup, but due to the angle of the sun and cold windy weather, I decided it was better to have him directly the warm sunlight and used reflectors to produce the fresh and bright looking headshots I was looking to produce. I’m looking forward to seeing these images used in his real estate marketing throughout the Lower Mainland.

It was such a pleasure to meet Sean Murty, a real estate agent based in Vancouver. He came in ready for his headshot session and was easy to work with. It made the whole photo session relaxed and easy, and produced some really good headshots for his growing business. I could tell right away that Sean is a good realtor, he’s got a great attitude, friendly, but very professional as well. Here are a couple of photos I shot for Sean in studio.

Vancouver real estate agent headshot

Vancouver Real Estate Headshots

 

With Spring comes one of the hottest seasons for Real Estate Headshots in Vancouver. We often get many real estate agencies wanting to have headshots of their team members for use online and in their print advertising. We can craft a contemporary look that matches an agency’s brand image and have the photos ready within a few days. Contact us today to schedule a headshot session for your real estate team.

Vancouver real estate agent portraits

Vancouver real estate headshots

Here are a couple of Metro Vancouver real estate agent headshots I recently did in studio this past weekend. This was shot against a white Lastolite background and Elinchrom studio strobes along with a large Westcott Apollo softbox and a gridded beauty dish. The lighting was adjusted in camera to get the grey colour background.  Just for display purposes, these photos were further edited to provide more negative space and smooth even colour which is great if you want to add text to the photo.

If you would like to book a headshot portrait session, contact me today to discuss setting up an appointment or to create a custom headshot to help project your company’s unique and creative brand.

(Any banding you see in this image is due to the lower resolution format for web display)