Photography station
View Patent ↗A photography station operates to capture digital images of a subject with at least one digital camera. The photography station includes foreground lighting and background lighting. The foreground lighting is configured to illuminate the subject, while the background lighting is configured to illuminate a background. The photography station includes a computing device having a setup module operable to perform tests to check a configuration of the photography station, and a photography module operable to capture digital images of the subject with the digital camera. In some embodiments, the tests performed by the setup module include a plurality of initial checking operations and a plurality of background processing operations.
1. A method of checking a position of a subject in a digital image, the method comprising:
displaying a user interface including a preview window;
graphically identifying a region in the preview window, the region being associated with a range of permissible locations for a top of the subject's head;
displaying the subject in the preview window prior to capturing a first digital image to assist with properly positioning the subject within the region;
capturing the first digital image of the subject with a digital camera;
identifying with a computing device a top point of the subject in the first digital image; and
determining with the computing device whether the top point is within the range of permissible locations.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying with a computing device a top point comprises identifying a plurality of dark points within the digital image, the plurality of dark points representing the silhouette of the subject; and identifying the upper-most point of the plurality of dark points as the top point.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the range of permissible locations is represented in the user interface by an upper boundary line and a lower boundary line, and wherein the computing device determines whether the top point is between the upper boundary line and the lower boundary line.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the computing device determines that the top point is not between the upper boundary line and the lower boundary line, determining that the subject is improperly positioned.
5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining whether the plurality of dark points extends to one of the left and the right edges of the first digital image, and if so, determining that the subject is improperly positioned.
6. A method of quality checking a digital image containing a subject, the method comprising:
obtaining a digital image with a digital camera;
identifying a plurality of dark pixels within the digital image;
determining whether any of the plurality of dark pixels is at an edge of the digital image; and
when any of the plurality of dark pixels is at the edge, determining that the subject is incorrectly positioned.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the edge is a left edge or a right edge.
8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising computing a percentage of the plurality of dark pixels to a total number of pixels in the digital image and determining whether the percentage is within a predetermined range of permissible values.
9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
identifying a region of the digital image that does not include any of the plurality of dark pixels;
computing a brightness of the region; and
determining whether the brightness of the region exceeds a predetermined brightness value.
10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
identifying a location of an upper-most point of the plurality of dark pixels; and
determining whether the upper-most point is within a predetermined range of permissible values.
11. A method of quality checking a digital image containing a subject, the method comprising:
obtaining a digital image with a digital camera;
identifying subject pixels within the digital image, the subject pixels corresponding to a subject;
determining whether the subject pixels are at a side edge of the digital image; and
when the subject pixels are at the side edge, determining that the subject is incorrectly positioned.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the side edge is a left edge or a right edge.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising computing a percentage of the pixels corresponding to the subject to a total number of pixels in the digital image and determining whether the percentage is within a predetermined range of permissible values.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
identifying a region of the digital image that does not include any of the pixels corresponding to the subject;
computing a brightness of the region; and
determining whether the brightness of the region exceeds a predetermined brightness value.
15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
identifying a location of an upper-most point of the pixels corresponding to the subject; and
determining whether the upper-most point is within a predetermined range of permissible values.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the subject in the preview window comprises displaying a video feed of the subject.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing the first digital image of the subject is performed by the digital camera supported by a tripod, wherein an angle of the digital camera with respect to the tripod is fixed and non-adjustable.
18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a special handling input; and
determining that the subject is properly positioned even when the top point is not within the range of permissible locations due to receipt of the special handling input.