Groups, outdoors and ****ty lighting.

Stradawhovious · Jun 30, 2011

Taking some family pictures next weekend, and would like some advice.

We have all sorts of places for backgrounds, so that isn't an issue. My questions are more directed at posing groups, and whether or not it's even worth bringing lights, stands and such if all I have are speed lights.

My thoughts.......

Location - lightly wooded area next to a Lake. Keeps direct ambient light off of the subjects, but gives nice blurred background with docked sailboats and the like.

Equipment - NIkon D7000 on tripod, NIfty Fifty (or Nikkor 135mm 2.5 if space allows), IR shutter release, two speedlights on stands (ETA radio triggers for the speedlights), two shoot through umbrellas.

Light - expose for background (in this case the lake), stop down 2 full stops and let the speed lights take over for primary exposure.

Pose - ? Total loss on this one. I'm about as artistic as a swamp rat. There will be 11 of us, and probably 4 dogs.

Any flaws in my logic? Point them out. Don't worry, I won't cry if you are brutally honest..... Well, not that you will see over the intrawebs anyways.......

Any thoughts or further recommendations? That would be great.

Big Mike · Jun 30, 2011

I don't think that underexposing the background by TWO stops is the way to go. You'd end up with a very dark & moody background, which doesn't sound ideal for a family portrait.
I'd suggest that one stop under would be a better place to start. Of course, it will depends what the background is like and how you want the photo to look.

Also, the more you try to underexpose the background, the more flash power you may need. If it's somewhat bright outside, then you will probably be stuck at your lowest ISO and max sync speed, so your only other option is to stop down the lens....and as you do that, you'll require more and more flash power to light up your subject. To that end, you may have to re-think the umbrellas. They give you a softer light but also rob a fair bit of power/distance. Not to mention that they will blow over at the drop of a hat, so you'd have to have an assistant on both stands, or anchor them very securely. And besides, with a group that large, you'd have to pull the lights back pretty far anyway, and at that distance, you won't be getting much softening from the umbrella anyway.

When shooting groups, especially outdoors, I'd suggest looking for spots that have good quality natural lighting. You know to keep them out of the direct sunlight, but you may be able to find a location that gives them nice natural side lighting. For example, under a tree, but with at least one side of the tree being open and not crowded with other trees etc. If you can find a nice spot, you won't have to worry about lights, stands, umbrellas, max sync speeds etc. You just pose them and worry about your exposure.

As for poses, I good technique for groups is to think in terms of triangles. You can build the group into a triangle, but also between any three elements in the photo. For example, don't pose the group so that someone's head/face is directly above or below another (making a line). Instead, stagger the placement of each person so that their face is between those around them and also above or below.
A good way to think about posing a group, is to imagine each face as an oval and place those ovals into a pleasing arrangement in the scene. For example, don't have three people on the left really close to each other, then have a large gap, then two more, then a large gap, then a bunch of evenly spaced people. Try to keep the spaces around all the faces, as even as possible.

A big key to successful portraits, especially group portraits, is to key their clothing. You want them all to wear similar clothing. They don't have to be the same, but you certainly don't want everyone wearing green, but then one joker wearing bright red...because they will stand out like a sore them. Worse...their shirt will stand out more than any person in the photo. Also, it would be ideal if their clothing is matched to the background that you are using. This allows the clothing to blend into the background, meaning that the faces/people will stand out.
So it fairly important that you communicate details about the wardrobe to all the people in the shot.

pgriz · Jun 30, 2011

I'd try to check if shooting through the umbrellas would give you enough light. If not, shoot naked (um, speedlights, not you or them). You're going to need a group-herding sheepdog, or someone who can act in that role and then jump in at the last moment.