Green screen background shoots can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you haven’t done before. Follow these steps to set up the perfect green screen lightening.

No Shadows

It important that you don’t have any shadows, otherwise it will be impossible for you to remove the complete green screen. Use your flash with your diffuser to soften the shadow. You could compare a diffuser to a lamp shade.

You know how harsh lighting is when you have a lamp with no shade and how terrible you look in any photos in those conditions. Well the same applies to the flash on your camera. The diffuser will soften the light and diffuse it in different directions. Different diffusers allow different levels of light to pass through. Make sure your diffuser matches your needs. The diffuser will not only remove any shadows, it will compliment your subject.

A direct flash can cause shadows, but so can your green screen if it has folds in it. When you are using outdoor lighting, make sure your subject is standing in the shade. If you have direct sunlight you aren’t set up right.

Studio Lighting

Once you have used studio lighting you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Nothing will give you better green screen photographs than using studio lighting. That’s because it can eliminate all shadows.

We should stress just because you buy studio lighting doesn’t mean you don’t have any worries left when it comes to green screen shooting. You will want what’s referred to as “butterfly lighting.” It earned its name because the light is provided at the same level leading to a nose shadow that’s equal on both sides of the image. It’s also sometimes referred to as flat lighting. This type of lighting will create even lighting for your green screen, which makes it much easier to work with your software.

If you want to create an image where pat of the face is dark, you will need what’s referred to as a Rembrandt lighting setup, which will include one or two addition lights, which will be used to light up the green screen itself.

If you are just beginning to play with green screen lighting it’s a good idea to stay with the flat screen lighting or butterfly lighting until you really get the hang of it.

The Camera

The better the camera the better the results. If you are using a point and shoot you will get images that are okay but not great. You will need to ensure that you have lots of light on the green screen for this to work.

Using a fixed lens SLR will get you better images, especially if the internal flash can be set to trigger external strobes. A full SLR will bring you the best results because you will have manual setting available to you, the ability to use off camera flashes/strobes, and to change lenses.

Finally you will need to invest in a green screen. You can use a green plastic sheet for minimal results. Green muslin works well, as does green woven polyester and green chroma key paint.

There you have it. You are ready to obtain the perfect green screen lighting.