Sports Background Extractions

We are thinking of knocking out the sports individual photos next year and offering different background options. What have other studios done for this? Any insight would be helpful.

I'm currently trying to evaluate these things:

Full body extractions looking weird

Making new memory mates with knocked out photo and normal team photo

Reteaching photographers how to shoot sports photos

Nick Gigante

Posted 3 months ago · Edited 3 months ago·Last reply 3 months ago

4 comments

Eric Leszkowicz

·3 months ago

Our approach has been to do the work for them and make the products. I am opening to hearing the choose your own background options but prefer the done for you model in sports.

We use Pixnub .. though in time I hope to use product designer more. I have developed and offline AI program that sets the data up.

The big win for us is the done for your buttons. We use a button that is formatted for Richmond and crops perfectly. Our button croop issues has gone to near zero.

Mike Norkin

·3 months ago

90% of our sports are knockouts. Gives us flexibility, control etc. We do 3/4 and have a variety of designs and items. We also design the upcoming season 6 months in advance.

Jen Orendorff

·3 months ago

We are 99% volume sports (vs schools) and only offer composite style images.

Full body extractions looking weird:

We only offer 3/4 crop final images, so no need to worry about floating athletes or kids wearing crocs

Making new memory mates with knocked out photo and normal team photo:

Pixnub is your solution for this.

Reteaching photographers how to shoot sports photos:

It's a completely different workflow than traditional, but honestly, I think it's easier. Plus, with composites, you can shoot indoors and not have to worry about the sun moving (or drastically changing exposures by going in/out of clouds).

Felecia McGowian (Captura)

·3 months ago

Now we’re talking—this is my cup of tea 😄

This is something a lot of studios are starting to play with, so you’re definitely not alone here. We’re seeing a mix of approaches, but one thing that’s really helping across the board is leaning into our Enhance app to keep things consistent and way more streamlined.

Honestly, I know exactly what you mean by the full-body extractions looking weird—like they’re just floating out there 😅 That usually comes down to how the image was shot + how clean the edges are. When capture is solid, Enhance does a much better job, but yeah… we’ve all seen those “floating” ones.

On the memory mate side, coming up with new ideas every year can get overwhelming fast. What I’ve seen work well is honestly just getting out there, looking at what other studios are doing (even ordering a few), and then putting your own spin on it. The combo of a clean knockout + a traditional team shot is still a solid move and gives you some flexibility.

For retraining photographers—this is HUGE. Even small things make a big difference:

Give the subject a little separation from the background
Watch shadows and lighting
Be mindful of edges (hair, fingers, hats, etc.)

Using slower seasons to run quick training sessions or refreshers really helps, so they know what you’re aiming for before you get into the busy grind.

At the end of the day, the studios that are doing this well are just dialing in that combo of good capture + Enhance + a little QC. That’s what keeps things from looking off and makes the whole workflow smoother.

If you want to bounce around ideas or test a setup before next season, I’m always down 👍