cgardner
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 p.1 #7 · Question about large group setup | |
For a group that large it would be advantageous to get up as high as possible with camera and lights, with the people looking up at the camera.
Shooting down puts all the faces a more similar distance from camera and lights, relative to each other, resulting in more even lighting and less near/far size distortion. Another trick to keep things even if using one light in the center is to curve the group around the light, because it falls off evenly in an equidistant arc.
Edit: With the people looking up you can also bounce the light off the ceiling above them and it will come down and evenly light their faces
In terms of composing groups, from ground level you get a sea of heads on top of the bodies in the front row. As the camera POV moves up, the bodies rotate down under the faces. If shot from high enough, like a balcony, the faces dominate and the bodies are barely seen. The net result is being able to fill the frame with bigger faces than when 75% of it is taken up by foreground, background over the heads and the torsos in the front row.
The best part about having the people look up is that it stretches out the neck for an instant face lift. It also forces everyone to look at the camera (its more obvious if they aren't).
Posing a large group can be done with a 30 sec. demo and a few verbal commands.
1) Stand in the middle and have both sides turn and face the center.
2) Have everyone point their front foot at the camera and shift weight to the back foot and hip. Like magic that weight shift will tilt all the shoulder lines and head towards the center.
3) To eliminate the dreaded "fig leaf" posture tell them to place their inside hand over their wallet in their back pocket so the guy behind them won't steal it. That gets one hand out of the photo and usually gets a smile. Let the outside arm hang down at the side.
The key is getting people out of the way they are naturally inclinded to pose in group shots: square to the camera, weight equal on both feet, hands clasped in front. In about 30 sec. you can turn a random mob into a cohesive but relaxed looking group. If they don't get the weight shift part just stand with your back to them, one side then the other, and demonstrate how to do it.
The "feet-up" posing weight shift trick is courtesy of Joe Zeltsman, by way of Monte Zucker, who I worked for in the early 1970s. Its how we'd pose wedding groups. Its also a great way to set up any pose, even for a head and shoulders shot, because it angles the shoulder line in an attractive and dynamic way. If you click the WWW button below the link will take you to my tutorials one groups and posing you may find helpful.
Chuck
Edited on Oct 21, 2009 at 02:03 PM · View previous versions
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