For many large organizations, creating consistent photos for ID cards can be a frustrating task. There are so many easy ways to acquire high resolution photos of employees, including from their own smart phone. However there are a lot of businesses challenged with meeting the expectations of their marketing and branding teams for ID badge appearance. And balancing these requires attention to detail and time from human resources and security departments who typically run the equipment to issue corporate ID cards.
Our most popular backdrops are a wrinkle free light blue fabric with options for 3′ x 4′ or full height 4′ x 7′. You can also choose a retractable wall mounted backdrop or on a stand if you need to be able to move it around.
One of the easiest ways to control photo quality and consistency is by having the correct lighting and background. Here are some tips from experts in the photography industry to help you capture more consistent photos for your ID cards.
MINIMIZE SHADOWS
You can minimize shadows by placing your lights higher than the subject and pointing them down slightly, as well as making sure they’re at a 45 degree angle between you, the light, and your subject. This won’t eliminate the shadows, but it will push them low and off to the side so they’re out of your frame.
CONTROL SPILL LIGHT
Minimize the amount of spill by placing your subject at least 4 feet from your background. Check the angle of your lights in relation to your camera to make sure the light isn’t hitting the background and bouncing into your lens. There shouldn’t be a direct line from a light to your camera lens. Over or underexposing the image can cause more spill problems, so set your exposure “down the middle” for better results.
MINIMIZE THE USE OF BACKLIGHTS & HAIR LIGHTS
Light coming towards the camera from the direction of the background will cause multiple issues with background removal because your chances of spill light bouncing into the lens is much higher. Having any light source behind the subject creates a halo around the subject, which can make it difficult for background removal algorithms to detect the edge. Not willing to part with your hair light? We’ll cover them in an upcoming post!
USE TWO LIGHTS
Place one light on each side of your subject with modifiers like umbrellas or softboxes. Having soft, balanced light means you’re less likely to have shadows or hot spots on the subject and background of your image, which can be problematic during the extraction process.
TEST YOUR SETUP
The tips above are guidelines based on the millions of images customers have taken over the years, but we recognize each setup is unique. Another easy step is to purchase a backdrop so that you have a consistent background color. To learn more about how school photographers remove backgrounds in bulk, check out additional tips from our friends at 36pix.
