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Archive 2015 · Group photo help

  
 
ccougar
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Group photo help


I am primarily a bird and wildlife photographer but have been asked to photograph a "once in a lifetime" family gathering for a close friend. I have little experience photographing groups of people and would appreciate any advise or suggestions. The group will consist of perhaps 12 to 15 people, including some elderly and a couple of small children. I am planning to use a Canon 1DX and either a 24-105 or a 16-35 zoom lens. I do not have flash equipment sufficient to light a group this size, so I am thinking of finding a shaded outside location and using a Canon 580EX flash to fill in the shadows. Posing a group this size is a major concern for me. I have seen sone excellent photos of wedding parties in this forum and hope I can duplicate some of them. Thanks for any pointers you might provide.


Oct 23, 2015 at 12:26 PM
jmraso
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Group photo help


Simetry, well structured in terms of age, relationship ..., all tucked in, no dirt and annoying things around, watch the background, take a few of the different combination so the chances of bliknking eyes are fewer, from here on you can do those funny shots I think you described, not very fond of them myself !

Good luck !

ccougar wrote:
I am primarily a bird and wildlife photographer but have been asked to photograph a "once in a lifetime" family gathering for a close friend. I have little experience photographing groups of people and would appreciate any advise or suggestions. The group will consist of perhaps 12 to 15 people, including some elderly and a couple of small children. I am planning to use a Canon 1DX and either a 24-105 or a 16-35 zoom lens. I do not have flash equipment sufficient to light a group this size, so I am thinking of finding a shaded outside location and
...Show more




Oct 23, 2015 at 12:35 PM
jasonpatrick
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Group photo help


I'd shoot at around 50mm and adjust your distance to frame the party(especially if you're shooting outside) so you don't distort the folks close to the edge. Keep the backgrounds clean and let that 1DX rip.

This is more personal, but if I was doing this shoot outside, I'd point my flash up and use the bounce card just to get catchlights in the eyes. If there's grandparents/patriarch's, I like to keep them in the middle (possibly sitting) and frame the rest around them.



Oct 23, 2015 at 12:44 PM
oguzhansuer
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Group photo help


I think 12 people is ok, last weks ı tried to take almost 120 people in one shot. But it was corporate group photo. İt's take may be 20 second and one of them say to me " ıt was fast and painless" and ı smiled.

But My suggestion keep your distance constant and use M mode, power output 1/8 or 1/16 on your 580EX II,
And also try to talk to people ı think this is the key element for shooting people.



Oct 23, 2015 at 04:07 PM
JHerr
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Group photo help


How do you take a photo of 120 people in 20 seconds?


Oct 23, 2015 at 04:33 PM
oguzhansuer
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Group photo help


JHerr wrote:
How do you take a photo of 120 people in 20 seconds?

It was a group photo, positioning people takes 5-10 minutes
my point is people boring quicky, you have to be fast as possible you can

ı'm sorry for my english



Oct 23, 2015 at 05:12 PM
ashton lamont
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Group photo help


You'll find tons of examples of pleasingly posed shots of groups - sounds like you already have - but in some ways that is the least of your worries.

The young kids will have short attention spans - thats guaranteed - so you will have to work fast. Very soon you'll have scrunched whingy unflattering faces. Avoid the temptation to fuss to get everything technical just right, or at least avoid it until you have a few usable shots in the can that you can then improve on.

Again young kids are notorious for looking off camera and then you get the adults shouting words of encouragement to them - in the process of which the adults are looking off camera and with unusable facial expressions. The easiest way to get young kids attention is to carry a squeaky toy such as those designed for dogs. These make the adults smile as well. But don't show it until the last moment as it will only work for a short time.

Older folks may refuse point blank to go onto ground on which they feel awkward or unsafe e.g. wheelchairs walking sticks and gravel don't mix well. And grass can be a no-no for the ladies in high heels. So find out as much as you can beforehand and have some alternative locations. Include a wet weather location as its unlikely you'll be able to reschedule a big family group such as you've described.

You may get lucky and find that the participants are all well used to having family portraits done every year and simply fall into place with little input required by you.

Use a lens with as long a focal length as possible as wide angle is unflattering and distorts verticals at the edges.

Use a small f-stop so that everyone is well within the depth of field.

Consider shooting from a step ladder or from a first floor window if you can't get a few chairs or benches together to stagger the participants.

Your single 580EX should easily provide enough fill-flash to give a pleasing appearance to a group of that size. Make sure you understand flash high speed sync if the conditions are bright.

Its much easier than it seems :- )

Pete



Oct 23, 2015 at 06:53 PM
glort
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Group photo help


JHerr wrote:
How do you take a photo of 120 people in 20 seconds?

With a camera, professionalism and Skill. Least that's how I try to do it and I have done loads a lot larger than that as well.

You don't have all day to do these things and peoples attention span and paitene are limited.
Merely try to fix what is patently wrong rather than get everything perfect because that is just never going to happen.






Oct 24, 2015 at 12:31 AM
ccougar
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Group photo help


Thanks everyone for such useful advise. This is exactly what I was lookinf for.

Chuck R



Oct 24, 2015 at 02:53 PM
rotorwash4944
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Group photo help


Wow- this is great. I was just about to post the exact same question. I am shooting a 50th wedding anniversary and THIS family shot was specifically asked for as the main shot.

My question/concern is that if I shoot inside, should I use my 600ext on-camera with a stofen? Off camera on a stand? With a small soft box? Bounced off a reflector?

Or am I getting WAY too complex for such a group? Anyone have a website suggestion to see posing examples? Or is Google the standard reply to such questions? Lol.
Thanks.



Oct 25, 2015 at 11:01 PM
wuxiekeji
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Group photo help


oguzhansuer wrote:
It was a group photo, positioning people takes 5-10 minutes


Usually I find some member of the group with a loud voice, tell them exactly what I want in terms of positioning, and have them deal with herding up all the sheep while I get set up with whatever I need for the shot.



Oct 26, 2015 at 12:24 AM
glort
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Group photo help


One trick I have done with Kids T&I shots is to do bursts of pics every time I get them to smile or say something. There is always 1 twit that no matter how many times you tell them to look at the camera, will be looking at someone else or off in the distance to their direct right and some other kid will be blinking or whatever.

I just get the best overall shot and then clone a shot of their head where they were looking right, onto the shot were everyone else managed to follow the simple instructions. Being that the lighting, camera/subject position is the same, it's very fast and easy to cut and paste another head into the pic.

The parents are always amazed at how I manage to get a perfect shot " With them all smiling and looking at the camera." It really amazes the more observant parents whom are watching and saw the one kid in the bunch that wasn't looking most of the time that I did get the perfect shot they never thought happened.
I also cover my butt at the outset and say when taking the pics, I have done 30 shots of the same thing, anyone not looking deserve's to be embarrassed and have a gumby pic for not paying attention. Rarely I miss a good shot of everyone but if there is a kid I cannot get a decent shot of, then I use the worst one of them so the other kids give them heaps about looking stupid and they learn to follow simple instructions and keep their mouth closed next year.

This is one time I do purposefully blaze off a whole bunch of the same shot and why it is useful. The bigger the group, the better chance of someone, more than one, person stuffing it up. With plenty of pics you have a better chance of getting at least one decent frame you can use of everyone. :0)



Oct 26, 2015 at 04:37 PM
IrishDino
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Group photo help


Open shade, backlit, good separation between them and the background and motor drive. Underexpose slightly so you don't blowout the skin or background and boost the shadows in post to taste. This is my foundation for a family formal.

Lens choice is tricky. I like to shoot my sessions at 135-200mm at f4 and compress the crap out of the background. The problem is, you need to maintain their attention at that focal length.

I believe to do formals well, especially with larger groups, you need to talk loud, direct people with specific intent, and keep interacting with them. The moment you stop interacting, or your passive, their attention will wander.



Oct 26, 2015 at 04:54 PM





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