85 People in a Virtual Group

Recently, I was hired to create individual and group photos for an engineering firm. The last time they had a group photo taken, they all stood together on a pleasant Fall day and someone snapped a picture. They employed around 60 people at the time. Now, they have 85 on staff (and growing!). I encouraged them to create a group photo using my Virtual Group technique. I set up at their offices for 2 days and shot individual photos of each person. This week, I compiled all of them into one group photo.

Here's the final result! Click on the image to enlarge it.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

The flexibility of Virtual Group Photography

Last year, I photographed a group of financial advisors "virtually" and placed them in their office (see the earlier post using this group).



Recently, they informed me one of the advisors had left the firm. The group was easily, economically, and quickly recomposed without having to reshoot. A great example of the value of this type of photography.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

Virtual Groups: Your Group Photos Grow As Your Firm Grows

Virtual Groups© gives you the flexibility to create and add to group photos without costly reshooting. It also makes scheduling easy because everyone has their photos done at their convenience. Click on each image to enlarge it.

The original project was to photograph the partners in a law firm and create a Virtual Group. The attorneys came to the studio separately for their photos. We created this group photo.



The partners liked the group photo so well, they decided to add the associates.



One of the attorneys wanted to try a different pose.



Recently, Jim joined the firm. He came to the studio for portraits and we seamlessly added him to the group.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

Virtual Backgrounds...save time and money

Here is a great example from a recent photo shoot. Traveling downtown and setting up in my client's conference room for one photo of one person was cost prohibitive. We brought him to the studio and shot photos of him virtually. Using file images of the client's conference room, we just stitched him into the room!



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

Medium and Large Size Groups...Virtually!

Medium and large size groups can be effectively composed by using virtual imaging. Individuals in these shots were photographed, in some cases, more than 2 years apart.

Click on each image to enlarge it.







For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

Professional Retouching and Virtual Backgrounds

Take a look at how we professionally retouch images and I give my clients different background options. The blue background was digitally created based on a client's specifications. The first image is the original right off of the camera. The second image is after retouching and, third, placed on the new background.

Click on the image to enlarge it and see the detail.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

Virtual Groups: How 5 Parts Equal 1 Great Photo

Here's another example of how we create Virtual Groups® and combine them with Virtual Backgrounds® resulting in one great photo. The process starts with individuals photographed on a white neutral background. From a variety of background shot for this client, one was chosen. Shooting backgrounds for this type of final product is usually included at no charge.

(Click on each image to enlarge it)



The background was modified to remove some distracting elements. Using OnOne Software's Mask Pro® the individuals were carefully outlined and stitched into the background.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197

New Virtual Group Example

Click on the image to enlarge it. This is a new version of the popular Virtual Group® product I offer.




For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Virtual Groups: Creating Environmental Portaits

Recently, I was asked to do a group picture for a financial services firm. The group wanted a picture in their office overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. They not only had schedule problems getting everyone together at the same time, they had been unhappy with previous attempts to make everyone look good in one photo. The answer: Virtual Group Portraits!

I went to their office and shot background photos. Subsequently, each one of them came to my studio and we shot separate images.



After taking into account everyone's relative height and position, I created this image. Everyone was thrilled with the final result!



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Virtual Background Portraits

One of my clients asked to me come out to one of their locations to shoot photos of staff members for a new web site. They were looking for a relaxed, less than "buttoned-up" look. The final images were going to be used in a tightly cropped hole on each page of the web site.

To make the shooting look "real" but also get the photography done in a cost efficient manner, I shot the individuals on a white background. Following the shooting, I went around their office and took background images. Later, in post production, I placed each person on a background which varied from a little to a lot with the others to make the images look "real." I also toned the background to match the exposure and contrast of each individual. Even the 2 women on plain backgrounds were actually placed on a slightly colored background.

One of these was actually shot "as is" in a real setting with a real background. Can you guess which one? Be sure to click on the images to enlarge them and see the detail.

The image immediately below is an example of one of the original images prior to outlining (some call this stripping) and being placed on a background.






Here's how the final product was employed on the client's web site:

Alerus Retirement Solutions

For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Virtual Portraits

Here's how we shoot portraits and put them against a background depicting the skyline of downtown Minneapolis. Click on the image to enlarge it so you can see the detail.




Another recent example of how we can shoot portraits either in the studio or on location and add a contextual background that looks natural and realistic. Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Newest Virtual Background Example

We have a number of stock backgrounds in our archive. One of the backgrounds was used to finish off this stunning portrait. As part of our Executive Portrait shooting, black and white and other effects are included at no additional charge. Be sure to click on the image to see its detail.



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Recent Virtual Groups

Here's a recently completed group of Super Lawyers we created for a Twin Cities law firm. Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it and see its detail.



We're also working on an update of service personnel for a Plymouth, MN, based manufacturer:



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

The Best Way to Do Group Photos

The most effective way to take group photos, in the long run, is to create what we call Virtual Groups. This is a perfect example. Photos were taken over a period of several weeks, when the subjects were available. Each person picked their favorite poses so that everyone looked their best. As their staff changes, we can simply remove people and replace them with new staff members. We can reshoot people who change hairstyles or lose weight. The photo is perpetually up-to-date!

Last Fall, we shot exterior photos of their dental office and just recently stitched everyone together.



We use sophisticated software that helps us extract or outline individuals from the original images and then use fine-tuning techniques that mask or shade each person against the people next to them so they look like they were naturally standing together. Click on the image to enlarge it and see its amazing detail.




For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Virtual Groups

Here are some new Virtual Group options:

One of our clients, a large Minneapolis law firm, asked us to create a group they call their Rising Stars.






For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

Virtual Portraits

Many of my clients are now requesting that we create Virtual Portraits for them. Defined, we shoot the subject either on location or in the studio against a blank or white background. Using sophisticated software, we separate the subject from the blank background and place them into a setting that relates to their work or activity. This technique saves time and ultimately money.

The following example was shot at a client's downtown Minneapolis office. Scheduling a busy conference room with wall-to-wall windows was avoided. Instead, we created a studio in an inside meeting room. This is what the set-up looked like.




From a series of images shot, the client chose this pose to be used in the virtual portrait.




The client wanted a background to consist of the view normally seen out the windows of their downtown Minneapolis offices. We shot views out of several offices to create a library of backgrounds. This enables us to use a variety of backgrounds so that different staff members don't look like they've been shot against a static background.




Once the image has been outlined (step 1), the subject and the background are combined onto the same canvas (step 2). As you can see the background looks somewhat crooked and out-of-scale to the subject. The background is reduced and transformed or rotated to make it look more realistic (step 3). But the background size now leaves some blank canvas so the entire image is cropped to an 8x10 aspect ratio so that everything fits (step 4).




And...here's the final result!



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com

How we create an environment...Virtually!

Objective: We wanted to create an image of this attorney to depict him as though he was speaking to a jury or questioning a witness during a trial. Since cameras are banned from courtrooms in Minnesota, we created a virtual environment. First we photographed Chris at his office against a white background.



We cropped the image so we eliminated any unwanted background and ended up with an aspect ratio that would work for us.



We used images from a library of backgrounds that we keep just for this purpose and stitched the attorney onto the background. Outlining and stitching was done by one of two ACE Photoshop specialists we use. Ta da!



For more information,

www.stevesilvermanimaging.com

4445 W. 77th St. #130
Edina, MN 55435
952-844-0119 c952-905-1197
steve@stevesilvermanimaging.com