Family Reunion

[klw81]

I am going to be attending a family reunion this weekend, and I guess you could say that I am the "unofficial" photographer. There will probably be around 80 people, and I have never taken many group pictures to begin with, much less with that many people. I don't know if the room is even big enough to get everybody in the picture, and moving everybody elsewhere is not going to be an option. I have a Nikon D70, 18-70mm lens, SB-600 speedlight, and a wireless remote. I was wondering if anybody had any tips they could give me. Specifically about lighting or posing, or anything else you think would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Mike_E]

A little more information might help. What kind of room/area for instance. What time of day? Do you have a stand for the SB? Have you read through strobist? Do you have a ladder?

 

[passerby]

I believe from my inexperience being that mostly you will use the 18mm end. Don't hesitate to use any means to capture. Technic come second place here.

I have an old B/W photo of the whole family when I was about 4 yo. I have made few copies of that gem regardless of quality. A photo where my two youngest siblings were not born yet.

Take as many pictures as you can. One day someone or some people will treasure those "ugly" looking shots taken by the "inexperienced" photog who had no idea what to do except pressing the button. Just like this one here and many many and many more, priceless.

http://www.charlottegamel.com/photoalbum/andesfamily1/Andes Family #1 -Pages/Image20.html

 

[cdanddvdpublisher]

focus on having fun with it more than technical perfection... seriously.

 

[JimmyO]

^^^yes
They arent expecting pro results, and it should be pretty easy, you are probably fine with on camera flash also.

 

[klw81]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I know they aren't expecting pro results(I basically volunteered myself for this since I have all the camera equipment) but I still wanted them to look decent. I think there is good lighting in the room so I should be okay.

 

[JerryPH]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I know they aren't expecting pro results(I basically volunteered myself for this since I have all the camera equipment) but I still wanted them to look decent.

You may not have all the equipment you need... 80 people several rows deep... it is not going to be easy to get them all properly/evenly lit with one SB-600.

Now if you had 3-5 off camera flashes AND a ladder, your chances would be increased a LOT.

The thing is, as most here say... concentrate more on having fun rather than "getting the shot". In this case, it is more important that you participate than play 'Tog.

Do try to get several pics of the whole group if you can, but if not, get the biggest groupings that you can. If thats not possible, group them by individual family or by location... and then PS them into 1 collage, possibly multiple 8.5 X 11 sheets... just a thought.

On camera flash... yeah, sure, why not. If it was me, I would have issues with that (, but thats me)... but I can understand why do that in this scenario.

Most important hint... HAVE FUN and PARTICIPATE!

 

[Socrates]

I am going to be attending a family reunion this weekend, and I guess you could say that I am the "unofficial" photographer. There will probably be around 80 people, and I have never taken many group pictures to begin with, much less with that many people. I don't know if the room is even big enough to get everybody in the picture, and moving everybody elsewhere is not going to be an option. I have a Nikon D70, 18-70mm lens, SB-600 speedlight, and a wireless remote. I was wondering if anybody had any tips they could give me. Specifically about lighting or posing, or anything else you think would be helpful. Thanks.

I'm doing the same thing next month but, in my case, it will be outdoors on the beach. This is where my 18-200VR will really shine. I can take a wide angle group shot and, within seconds, zoom in on Aunt Tillie's new grandson.

 

[JimmyO]

You may want took look into some type of diffueser or bouncer or see if you can bounce the flash off a white cieling for nice soft light