METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKGROUND REPLACEMENT IN STILL PHOTOGRAPHS

A first digital image is acquired of a framed area while illuminating the background and foreground object under a first lighting condition. A second digital image is then acquired of the same framed area while illuminating the background and foreground object under a second lighting condition. Preferably, the first lighting condition illuminates the background without illuminating the foreground object so that a silhouette of the foreground object is acquired in the first image. The second lighting condition illuminates the foreground object (e.g., with frontal lights). Due to the difference in the illumination between the background and silhouette in the first image, an alpha mask can be created from the first acquired image. Using the mask, the background from the second image can be removed and replaced by virtually any other desired background image.