By Doug Taylor

Photographing children can be a very satisfactory business to be in. From birth all the way to young adult, moms and dads and relatives want to be able to have a visual record of their baby daughter or son growing up. Lots of time the parents will bring in children for all kinds of special occasions. The standard pattern appears to be newborn, six-months, a year, two, three, five, ten, thirteen, and sixteen. This can go on until the children become adults. Don't forget the holidays such as Christmas or Easter. All these photograph opportunities can add up to a nice residual income, especially if a photographer gets lots of clientele. Using a green screen can help you obtain those clients.

But wouldn't it be nice if there was a system to improve the amount of sales, particularly during the early childhood years where the child's moms and dads may not usually bring them in for their portraits? This piece of writing will reveal not one or two, but three ways you can boost your income by using a green screen with those same customers-and it will not cost you an arm or a leg to get this going.

Try using the age old question all children hear all the time: "What would you like to be when you grow up"? This question normally leads to the normal answers of doctor, firefighter, policeman, astronaut, and cowboy or cowgirl.

Here is a quick way to do this. First, to make sure you don't have to make complicated sets or print up some location backdrops, set up a green screen that you will take the child's picture in front of. Next, have the child dress up like their dream job would have them look - if possible, help the parents by having reasonably priced props like a fireman's helmet, a cowboy hat, and a doctors mask with plastic stethoscope. Take the picture then use simple chroma key software to place them in the appropriate background.

An additional way to make use of a green screen and offer an additional unique portrait opportunity is what I like to call the "show off" tactic. It could be something like a painting or drawing or a report from school, then put in in a background that looks like an art gallery or a college. Then, take the child's portrait as if they're standing proudly next to their own exhibit. For sports superstars, take a picture of the child from the side with them leaning on a wall that is covered with green screen.

Lastly do not forget to make use of themes to your advantage. For instance, find out what the child's favorite book is that they read and cherished. Do some exploration and figure out a way to position them inside the books settings. If the book is something like one of the action books try placing them in the jungle or in the middle of a cattle ranch. For something like the Harry Potter books try placing them in front of an old English cottage. If you put your brain to work and make use of your imagination you will find there is no limit in the places you can put your clients when you are using a green screen.

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