Group Photo Posing Suggestions

smoke665 · Nov 25, 2016

Yesterday, I had a perfect opportunity for some family photos, and ended up pulling my hair out by the end. Started off with 2-3 in the photo, didn't do bad, but the more people I added the worse it became.

I couldn't seem to catch everyone, I either had someone looking off into never, never land, closing their eyes, leaning, etc., etc. Part of the problem might have been because I was trying to be in the picture with a remote (so I couldn't see the whole scene). It worked a little better when I switched to the timer, because it has a beep that gets faster as it snaps the shutter, so everyone had a warning. One thing for certain I would never make it as a duck herder at the Peabody in Memphis.

Any suggestions or tips for the next time?

tirediron · Nov 25, 2016

Yep... stay out of the picture. Seriously. It's almost impossible to get a good shot of any size group and be in it yourself.

smoke665 · Nov 25, 2016

@tirediron So leave an appropriate spot on the end marked with an "X", shoot everyone BUT the photographer, then move in and shoot myself, and merge later in post?

tirediron · Nov 25, 2016

smoke665 said:
@tirediron So leave an appropriate spot on the end marked with an "X", shoot everyone BUT the photographer, then move in and shoot myself, and merge later in post?

You could, or just accept that you're the photographer and leave yourself out altogether. To be honest, putting yourself into a composite like that might be more difficult than simply accepting that the pictures you're getting now aren't perfect.

I find that with larger groups (pretty much anything over eight it seems) there are always issues. I can do a half-dozen shots, and I'll still have to swap at least one set of eyes....