Tips for groups/oh god, what did I get myself into?!

[medic2230]

^^^ That's the one I was thinking of.

 

[JustJazzie]

I can see a train crash ahead

We are used to it by now.

But this one isn't being driven by Cassy Jones

Who's that?

Steaming and a rolling Casey Jones (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I can see a train crash ahead

We are used to it by now.

But this one isn't being driven by Cassy Jones

Who's that?

Steaming and a rolling Casey Jones (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strictly speaking, Johnathan Luther Jones, engineer on the Illinois Central and Mobile & Ohio RR.

I learn all sorts of stuff on TPF! Love it!

 

[tirediron]

I can see a train crash ahead

We are used to it by now.

But this one isn't being driven by Cassy Jones

Who's that?

Steaming and a rolling Casey Jones (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I can see a train crash ahead

We are used to it by now.

But this one isn't being driven by Cassy Jones

Who's that?

Steaming and a rolling Casey Jones (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strictly speaking, Johnathan Luther Jones, engineer on the Illinois Central and Mobile & Ohio RR.

I learn all sorts of stuff on TPF! Love it!

On rare occasions, some of it's actually useful (and on even rarer occasions, photography-related!)

 

[JustJazzie]

I can see a train crash ahead

We are used to it by now.

But this one isn't being driven by Cassy Jones

Who's that?

Steaming and a rolling Casey Jones (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We are used to it by now.

But this one isn't being driven by Cassy Jones

Who's that?

Steaming and a rolling Casey Jones (TV series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Strictly speaking, Johnathan Luther Jones, engineer on the Illinois Central and Mobile & Ohio RR.

I learn all sorts of stuff on TPF! Love it!

On rare occasions, some of it's actually useful (and on even rarer occasions, photography-related!)

"Useless" information is my favorite kind. You'd be surprised the junk I store up top!

 

[kundalini]

.....Now I need to go research poses!

Lastolite School of Photography has loads of useful tips and techniques and (of course) products they wish to tout. Here’s a tutorial on posing groups with their posing tubs. You can substitute the tubs with anything you have on hand, different height chairs, sofa, pillows, etc. in order to vary the head heights for your group. But the information on getting good positioning of groups is solid. A majority of the tutorial has the photographer working with a couple, but at the 20:33 mark he starts with a group of six. Enjoy.

http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-posing-tubs

..... I don't even want to be paid for this. I'm not sure you could pay me enough. ;-)

Perhaps instead of taking the money on offer, in the spirit of the holidays, have the MIL donate to your local food bank, warm coats drive, animal shelter or some charity that you support. MIL will feel better, you will feel better and the charity will definitely benefit.

 

[JustJazzie]

.....Now I need to go research poses!

Lastolite School of Photography has loads of useful tips and techniques and (of course) products they wish to tout. Here’s a tutorial on posing groups with their posing tubs. You can substitute the tubs with anything you have on hand, different height chairs, sofa, pillows, etc. in order to vary the head heights for your group. But the information on getting good positioning of groups is solid. A majority of the tutorial has the photographer working with a couple, but at the 20:33 mark he starts with a group of six. Enjoy.

http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/using-posing-tubs

..... I don't even want to be paid for this. I'm not sure you could pay me enough. ;-)

Perhaps instead of taking the money on offer, in the spirit of the holidays, have the MIL donate to your local food bank, warm coats drive, animal shelter or some charity that you support. MIL will feel better, you will feel better and the charity will definitely benefit.

*sigh* I can't get that video to play on my phone for some reason, and we don't have fast enough internet to stream on a computer. :-( I did watch a YouTube video that talked about different heights though! The general pose I have in mind uses the sofa, some posing stools behind the sofa, and possibly someone sitting on the arms of the sofa. I'll use the kids to fill in the gaps.

Nice idea about the charity! If they ask again, I'll bring it up!

 

[Braineack]

have her donate to me warm kittens.

 

[Designer]

The general pose I have in mind uses the sofa, some posing stools behind the sofa, and possibly someone sitting on the arms of the sofa. I'll use the kids to fill in the gaps.

Oh, man! I hate to keep throwing things at you, but I would advise against posing people on a sofa. The problem is that adults tend to sink down with their hips lower than their knees, making for some very awkward postures. Ladies wearing skirts is another problem. And people tend to lean back into the backrest throwing their faces way far back behind their knees, so unless your DOF is 4 or 5 feet deep, something is going to be out of focus.

Rather than a sofa, grab a couple of dining room chairs for selected adults to sit upon. Find a kitchen stool or two for the shorter people, and have a few stand behind.

As for using the children to "fill in the gaps", try to make a pleasing composition with "lines" of faces. When you pose your group, ask the ones in back to get very close to the ones in front, and if you have any children on somebody's lap, get the child's head positioned so that his face is not forward of your DOF. Focus on someone's eyes somewhere in the middle of the DOF, not the front or the back.

 

[kundalini]

A sofa should be fine as long as you get them to sit on the front edge of the cushions, not sinking to the rear. Those behind the sofa would need to bend at the waist to lean forward, which in turn lowers their heads so that you can "fill in the gaps" a bit easier.

Here's a good rule of thumb when posing multiple people (assuming two rows). Have the lower tier's eyes be kinda level with the upper tier's mouths. Diagonals is the watchword.

 

[JustJazzie]

The general pose I have in mind uses the sofa, some posing stools behind the sofa, and possibly someone sitting on the arms of the sofa. I'll use the kids to fill in the gaps.

Oh, man! I hate to keep throwing things at you, but I would advise against posing people on a sofa. The problem is that adults tend to sink down with their hips lower than their knees, making for some very awkward postures. Ladies wearing skirts is another problem. And people tend to lean back into the backrest throwing their faces way far back behind their knees, so unless your DOF is 4 or 5 feet deep, something is going to be out of focus.

Rather than a sofa, grab a couple of dining room chairs for selected adults to sit upon. Find a kitchen stool or two for the shorter people, and have a few stand behind.

As for using the children to "fill in the gaps", try to make a pleasing composition with "lines" of faces. When you pose your group, ask the ones in back to get very close to the ones in front, and if you have any children on somebody's lap, get the child's head positioned so that his face is not forward of your DOF. Focus on someone's eyes somewhere in the middle of the DOF, not the front or the back.

I planned to have them seated right on the edge, then others on the hard arm rest? I packed a tape measure to calculate my DOF to make sure it's deep enough.

I'm trying to think of where else we could pose them, as it's a pretty small house. Maybe I can convince them to move the sofa. ..somewhere? There's a small space in the basement but I'm not sure it's adequate for so many people! I'd need to go 3-4 rows deep......

 

[JustJazzie]

A sofa should be fine as long as you get them to sit on the front edge of the cushions, not sinking to the rear. Those behind the sofa would need to bend at the waist to lean forward, which in turn lowers their heads so that you can "fill in the gaps" a bit easier.

Here's a good rule of thumb when posing multiple people (assuming two rows). Have the lower tier's eyes be kinda level with the upper tier's mouths. Diagonals is the watchword.

This was the plan! I brought the posing stool, thinking I could seat them behind and Have them lean in, maybe arms resting on the back of the sofa?

Great tip about eye/mouth placement. I will do my best to watch for that!

If the sofa is too large to fill the frame, there is an oversized chair I can use. Grandma on the front with child in lap, two kids on the arm rest (watch for knees, grandma should hide them! Fill in the second row with the other four adults?

 

[kundalini]

Shot with a single hot-shoe mounted flash bounced off the ceiling.

The fun shots come when they least expect it.

 

[JustJazzie]

Nice ones!!! Their ceilings are WAAAY too high for that, and they are wood so no much light to be bounced. The wall behind me is a stone floor to ceiling fireplace so no reflective qualities there!

I'm gonna try my best to slow it down. I always rush and I think it's my biggest downfall!

 

[medic2230]

Wasn't today the day?

 

[JustJazzie]

Wasn't today the day?

Yes! Just finished editing one. I'm semi happy with how things went. I definitely could have done better.

I got there and was informed one brother had a Skype interview exactly an hour after they arrived so I felt a little rushed. :-(