help! crash course in group photography?!

[echoyjeff222]

Okay, my family hired me this weekend to shoot our family photo. There are 17 (!!) people, and I am really really nervous. Can anyone give me pointers / tutorials to read so that I don't have an epic fail? Thanks!! We are shooting indoors in an office building. I don't have any lighting equipment, but I'll bring a tripod.

 

[echoyjeff222]

any help would be appreciated ...

 

[dewey]

Yikes... indoors office building without lighting with a group that size is indeed a nightmare. Do you at least have a flash? What size lens?

 

[echoyjeff222]

I have a Nikon Coolpix P90 .... Just a built in flash, lol.

And it's a zoom lens. :/

 

[cgipson1]

I have a Nikon Coolpix P90 .... Just a built in flash, lol.

And it's a zoom lens. :/

Tell your family you will do it for free.. and will do the best you can! But let them know that you lack the needed equipment and knowledge to give them professional quality photos....

 

[echoyjeff222]

Lol, well I was already planning on doing it for free. I was looking mainly for composition/posing techniques to get the most of it.

 

[Designer]

Lol, well I was already planning on doing it for free. I was looking mainly for composition/posing techniques to get the most of it.

Try to find a huge window on the north side of the building. Get everyone to (nearly) face the window to get as much natural light as possible on their faces. Turn off all room lights, as they will most likely not be the right lights anyway. Group them closely together, making sure you can see everyone's entire face. Use your built-in flash for fill. set the camera on a tripod, use the self-timer, and walk to your position, counting the seconds aloud so everyone can hear when you get to "zero".

 

[nycphotography]

+1 on designer's advice.

I was going to say any window... but north is preferable as the light will be the least harsh.

Alternatively, an east window in the afternoon or a west window in the morning.

Last resort... find any window any time the sun is up ;-)

 

[echoyjeff222]

Thanks! I will definitely do that. For posing, I was thinking about using the "triangle" in terms of arranging each "mini-family" in a triangle like format, then squishing everyone together ... I'm not quite sure though, especially with all the children.

I'm reading this article right now -- http://portrait-photographer.blogspot.com/2009/07/really-large-groups.html

 

[nycphotography]

It should all come down to what light you can find. if you have a wall of windows and a wide enough lens, you can spread them.

But I might suggest the group as one group, and the triangle sub groups each shot separately.

Otherwise the group may get too spread out to make out individual faces.

 

[echoyjeff222]

I might just end up doing one big "triangle" or pyramid format like the ones on the page that I found.

 

[echoyjeff222]

I made a quick sketch of the components of the photo - suggestions?

Basically, the top row is my grandpa and grandma standing (on a stool, maybe?)
The middle row has all the adults in pairs (couples) who are going to be kneeling (OR SHOULD THEY BE STANDING AS WELL?)
And the bottom row has all the kids (including me) either sitting (OR SHOULD THEY BE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE MIDDLE ROW?)


DSCN3116 by echoyjeff222, on Flickr


THANK YOU!

 

[keith foster]

You are going to have a tough time with the equipment you have but you should be able to make it work if you can find window light. Without it, not so much.

Here are a few examples of posing groups in the past 6 months or so.

Outside would make your job easier but you have to do what you can get everyone to do.

 

[dbvirago]

You said indoor in an office building. Is there by any chance a set of stairs in the lobby? This was done with a 50mm on a tripod using available light. There was one large window up high behind the camera.