Like real estate, your photos will look better when you choose your location. Springtime is the time of year for holiday parties, school dances, and even weddings. So while going into your yard and finding a clean background is a great idea, picking a location in your town that stands out may be a better idea.
Here you can see all the parents watching as I take the group and a couple of pictures. Looking closely, you will see my one Alienbees B1600 with the original vagabond battery by Pau Buff. It is to the far right in back [yellow head].
Another tip is to use a tripod. There are a couple of good reasons to d this. First, your photos are sharper when the camera is rock steady still. Second, if one person in a group photo blinks and another person in another photo, you can always copy and paste one person into the other image using Pho Shop. This way, everyone will look good in one shot.
Centennial Junior/Senior Prom
Bullock Hall
Fill Flash
The subjects are all backlighted by the sun in all these photos. Unless you use a flash, you will have difficulty holding the background and their faces to get a good exposure. I metered the scene: ISO 100, ƒ/8, and 1/50. I then set the flash to ƒ/5.6 or one-stop under whatever I would have metered for the overall scene.
Here I composed a wider shot to show Bulloch Hall, where the grandparents of President Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, and great grandmother of Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady from 1934-1945, lived.
Centennial Junior/Senior Prom
Bullock Hall
I like the closer composition over the wide shot. But I did both in case couples preferred one over the other.
Centennial Junior/Senior Prom
Bullock Hall
Whenever my family is with me, and I have gone to this much trouble for photos, I always get a picture of them.
“Hey can you take some photos of our band for a promo shot?” Was the request from Late Night Reading’s drummer Drew Cottrell.
Earlier I took some pictures of the band when they were in town a couple of months ago. Here is the blog post I did then. What I wrote about back then was that even the D4 was struggling to take photos in a dark hole like the Swayze’s Venue in Marietta, GA.
I had in my van my monobloc lighting kit this time in addition to the Nikon Speedlights.
I went into the parking lot a little later after they had played and set up my lights. I also asked them if they had something they were looking for. They didn’t have any ideas, so I took the lead and told them about this concept you see above.
Here is the setup for the photo.
Now lets play
Once I have the lights set and get a few of the shots that I was initially looking for, I asked the band to have some fun.
I then took the same setup and moved it to where you could see the Tatoo Shop and the Pawn Store lights in the background. Here are some of those shots.
For these I used a tripod and dragged the shutter to 1/13th of second. Everything else stayed the same since there was almost no light on the band.
I would prefer to shoot the promo photos all the time over the concert photos. Just compare these above to the same band performing below.
Live Performance
Nikon D4, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 6400, 1/60, ƒ/4
The strobes are on the PocketWizard Transceiver TT5 and They are on Manfrotto 5001B Nano Black Light Stands and the Manfrotto 175F Justin Spring Clamp with Flash Shoe to hold the flashes. I am triggering the TT5 using the PocketWizard Mini TT1 and PocketWizard AC3.
I turned the ISO up to about ISO 6,400 because I didn’t want the background to go totally dark.
Nikon D4, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 6400, 1/60, ƒ/4
Nikon D4, 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6, ISO 10,000, 1/60, ƒ/5.6
While these are pretty good for shooting in a dark hole, I still prefer having the control I had with the studio strobes and moving the band members around.
My friend Zach Arias launched his successful freelancing business just shooting bands like Late Night Reading’s promo shots. He started by just using a Vivitar 285 on a light stand. He was so successful he started a workshop teaching photographers his “One Light” technique.
This is a lighting setup I used for an awards dinner last night. A little over 100 awards given on stage in just a few minutes. After they got their award they walked off the stage and I took their photo. I was averaging about 3 groups a minute with 2 shots each. We were moving.
Camera: Nikon D4 with 28-300mm, ISO 200, f/8, 1/500
Studio Strobes: 2 – Alienbees 1600 Setting on 1/8 power
Radio Remote: Pocketwizard MiniTTL and (2) Pocketwizard Plus II transceivers
When I set this up I used light stands that go to about 8 feet tall. I would suggest 10 foot light stands if I were to do this again. I set the lights 45º to either side of the camera and as I high as the light stands would go.
The reasoning is that I had no time to have people sit down and pose them. They would all be standing. I wanted the shadows to go down behind the and not up on the screen. I kept everyone about 2′ to 3′ away from the background to help the shadows to fall down or wide.
I wanted to shoot at f/8 to be sure if I ended up with two rows everyone was in focus. I didn’t need much more depth a field.
I shot at ISO 200 and 1/8th power on the monobloc lights.
Results for the Awards Photos
The reason I didn’t use umbrellas or soft boxes was the space issues.
While you are here photos
Now the primary reason I am hired is to get these photos which are then sent to those in the photos for them to use in their own newsletters to promote their winning of the awards. However, once you are there they often want some other photos. The most common is head shots of their staff.
Since we didn’t have the luxury of time and space to use another lighting setup I shot the staff head shots using this lighting setup.
Results for quick head shots
The client is satisfied because the photos work well for their uses.
More than photos
If all I were doing was just taking these photos it would be one kind of a job, but they need names of everyone. So I was able to shoot and identify all the people in the photos. Think about pulling this off.
How would you shoot and identify all the people in the photos?
I then print out contact sheets with the photos and the names under each photo. The text is also in the metadata of each photo, so if they can search for photos by names or open the file in software that reads metadata (PhotoShop) and read the caption.
Since the photos all have identification embedded, then the client can easily just drag and drop these photos into a database and easily pull photos in the future.
Keep in mind when you do a job that there might be a better way to do any individual part of the package. However, you must take into consideration all the aspects and how they impact one another to reach the goal for the client.
Students helped me demonstrate the issues of a problem with one light close to the group. The person closest is brighter than the others.
Here all I have done is repositioned everyone, but still, the lady on the far left is darker than the other two in the photo.
This is the lighting setup for the two photos above.
After seeing the photos above, one of the first things people think they need to do is add another light. No question this would help solve our lighting problem.
Now let’s be realistic here. Most photographers starting will have just one light and cannot justify another light until some income begins. How do you solve the problem in just one morning?
Inverse-Square Law
We need to first start with understanding the Inverse-Square Law of Light.
In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that a specified physical quantity or strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical quantity. (Wikipedia)
In photography, an object twice the distance from a point source of light will receive a quarter of the illumination.
How this is used most often in photography is to figure your exposure. If you want to keep the same f/stop when you move a light twice the distance from the subject, you must increase the power four times. Inversely, if you move the lamp twice as close, you will need to power down the light to 1/4 the power to keep the same f/stop.
Using the Inverse-Square Law of light for Group Photo
The further you move the light from a group, the difference between the light falling on the subjects’ faces will become less and less different. The reason is that the distance of each subject to the light source as compared to others in the group will be so small of a difference that they will appear to be more evenly lighted.
The only thing that changes from the first diagram to this one is the light source is moved further from the group and moved the light to the left side.
As shown in the lighting diagram, I have moved the light source further from the group. I suggest moving the light as far as possible from the group to get the evenest amount of light.
You can now see that the light is more even on everyone in the photo. One person said it is light creating depth-of-field for the flash using this technique.
While this would have solved the lighting problem by keeping the lights the same in the first photo, it will limit your creativity for posing with one light. This is why moving the light back gives you more posing options and more light in a group photo.
Technical Changes
ISO: You may need to use a higher ISO to have your flash still be affective. You may change from ISO 100 to as high as ISO 3200. Remember that since you are using a flash the noise is not the same and actually can appear to disappear. (link to earlier blog on this)
Aperture: With group photos you will want to use f/8 or higher to be sure everyone is in focus. If you use f/2 for example your group photo above would look more like a solo act and their backup singers and not like a musical group.
(8+ Nikon SB900s) = (1 Alienbees 1600) (8 x $510 = $4,080) vs ($360)
You can buy hot shoe flashes for under $90. These hot shoe flashes are not TTL, but you can use them in manual mode just as you would a studio strobe. They are just less powerful and take a while to recycle.
This is the Vivitar 285, which you get at B&H Photo for $87
Practice making a group photo and getting everyone evenly lighted using just one flash. Understanding and mastering this skill will help you when you have a limited amount of equipment and still need a professional photo of a group.
This first photo by itself may not make a lot of sense to light and shoot the photo this way. However, when I was asked to help my son with all his friends on prom night I had to be able to shoot a lot of couple shots and group shots in a very limited time.
If you see the lighting diagram you will notice I put lights up behind the people and up the stairs behind them. This is so I could shoot without having the drag the shutter too long to get the background to show up. It also helped me by having very little shadow that didn’t have some light hitting it. This meant that the dynamic range was in some ways compressed.
I hope you are seeing that I didn’t move. What I did do is use the Nikon 24-120mm lens so I could stay put and just zoom in and out the accommodate the size of each grouping.
If I were to step forward I could end up casting a shadow into the photo. By standing back you avoid the problem of the photographer casting a shadow.
Nikon D3S, 14-24mm, ISO 200 f/9 1/60
This last photo helps you to understand one more reason I set the lights one way and left them alone. I put the lights on light stands and then put them as high as I could make them go and then put sand bags on the bottom of the stands.
This helped be sure the light would drop off down behind people and make any shadows not hit people in the rows in back. Also by having steps to use I was able to stack folks to get everyone in the photo and see their faces.
Summary
Many times what will determine how you photograph groups will be the time you have with the group and how many different groups you have in that time frame. I have learned to setup for the biggest group and then place the smaller groups in the same space and just get closer with the camera.
When you have groups space the people so that if you have a second row they are staggered in between the front row.
When taking group photos, arrive early. You need to scout the location, maybe setup risers, set your lights and then wait. When the group arrives you can ask everyone to lineup by height and start in the middle back with the tallest person. As you add people alternate them on either side of the middle.
While you might not have a set of risers there are many places you can get a similar effect. Look for stairs a sloped area outside or if you don’t find one get up higher and shoot down on the group.
The key is to have the photo already sketched out in your mind or even on paper. You also have to take charge right away. I have even jokingly taken a few shots before they get into place fully. Since the flashes go off the folks think I have already really started. Well I have–I have taken charge and gotten their attention.
I do make a little joke and then they all laugh. I might even snap another one for fun. The problem with large groups is people have conversations with each other. You need their attention and also need those talking to stop. They make it difficult for others to hear your instructions.
Use steps or risers for larger groups so that the people on the back rows are not blocked by the height of those in front of them.
One thing these photos show is how more uniform everyone is in their dress the more of a “group” they become. Even the introduction of color with the hoods creates a little more of individuality in the photo.
For the group photos I used this setup. The lights were about 30 feet from the group. The further the light is from the group the light value from the front row to the back is more even. The closer the light is to the group the greater the risk is of the front row being much brighter than the back row.
Before and after group photos I like to shoot candid photos. Most clients love to have this moments for their files.
When you hire a professional photographer, they show up with the right equipment to deliver high quality images. One thing is a seasoned pro shows up with is flashes to use outside with group photos on sunny or cloudy days.
I used a flash on this overcast day to help with being sure you see everyone’s eyes. If you don’t use a flash you will often have raccoon eyes, where those with deep socket eyes have shadows covering the eyes. The flash also gives a catch light. One more thing is often on overcast days the color shift can rob a photo of the color that the flash can put back.
This is the time of year for diploma presentations to graduates as in this photo. A seasoned pro will be sure the background is appropriate and the lighting looks natural and you can see everyone’s faces.
While posed photos are often the ones chosen, today people always like to have a “fun” shot. While you would never have a person who is part of a group photo up above everyone else for the “fun” photo it can work. Again the photographer needs to be ready for the moment when it happens. This is not a 1, 2 and 3 count off photo and then fire the camera–you have to anticipate. If you wait until you see it–it is too late.
Using flashes effectively comes from years of not using a flash like in this photo. You have to see the light before you can make it look natural. It is also another reason to hire the seasoned pro, they will deliver “moments” rather than just lining people up and getting good expressions in a group photo cannot replicate. This requires a photographer to feel the moments and capture the mood.
Graduations are ceremonies for change. We need them to help us say goodbye to the way things were and help us to prepare for the future. Weddings are as much a funeral celebration to the single life as they are to the future as husband and wife. Graduations are a time when people are saying goodbye to the friends they shared for the past year or years on a journey.
Photography plays a really big part in helping us with these transitions in life. They give us something tangible to help us remember. We will remember the friends and maybe want to reconnect after looking back at the photos.
If you hired the pro rather than having your friends with cameras take the photos you are more likely to have memories that tell the story to future generations. The professional photos capture your personality and tell something about you to your grandchildren that words alone would not capture.
This is one of the best group of guys I enjoy hanging with anytime I get a chance. We were missing just a few of the guys, but we enjoyed meal and sharing memories as well as making some new ones.
We have known each other between 20 – 30 years. If you ever want to know where I get some of my inspiration–these are the guys.
This is some of my good photography friends: Dr. Bob Carey (past NPPA president and chair of Gardner–Webb’s Communications department) Mark Sandlin (director of photography at Southern Living) Bill Bangham (Dir., Editorial & Photography of International Mission Board) Kent Harville (Corporate Visuals Coordinator, Lifeway Christian Resources), Jim Veneman (Director of Visual Communication, Union University) Gibbs Frazuer (Freelance Photographer)
Bob Carey
Mark Sandlin and Bill Bangham
Bill Bangham works on material for his blog http://wahokia.wordpress.com/
Bill Bangham enjoys dinner at Sugo in Roswell, GA. The crane was made by Chelle Leary.
Every year I take our family photo and, like many of you, send it out as a Christmas card. Here’s what works for our family photo; try it with yours.
First, we do it outside. Everyone is more relaxed out there than in a studio environment. It’s an informal, casual setting; comfortable clothing looks excellent and comfortable clothes make for comfortable subjects. It is easier to make good family portraits with a relaxed family.
Maybe one year, we can have on our pajamas for a great photo! But, of course, that’s probably not a good idea.
Second, it is easier outside. There is plenty of light, and we can control it by where we place the family. We can use open shade or backlighting or do it on a slightly overcast day for soft light.
Third I look for a good background. I love our backyard with all the trees. While looking for an excellent place to do the portrait, I take a few test shots to make sure what I see is what I’ll get.
Fourth I use a tripod and a radio remote control to fire the camera. This way, I can be in the photo and make the shot when we’re ready, not when the timer fires the camera. The remote also allows me to take several pictures without returning to the camera to reset the timer.
Fifth, with three children plus my wife and I all in the photo and me not behind the camera watching for expressions, it’s a real challenge to develop good expressions for everyone simultaneously. Usually, the problem is with only one person, and it is usually me.
Just FYI: Back in the good ol’ days of film, Kodak did some research and found that each person added to a photo required seven times more shots to get a great expression of everyone at once.
No Flash
Meanwhile, back to the present day and the digital image… So everyone, except me, of course, has a good expression in one of the photos. It would be great if I could remove my head in that shot and replace it with the one image where I have a decent expression. (Now is when we fall in love with our tripod.) With the camera on a tripod and with software like PhotoShop, you CAN take my head, or yours, from one photo and put it into another. The latest version of PhotoShop has a menu item that makes this so much easier. If you don’t move your camera during the photos and everyone stays pretty still, you can combine the best expressions of each person into one image.
Sixth I compose the photo, figure out where I need to be, and take a couple of test shots of my family minus one. Finally, if the light looks good on everyone, I join the group and fire away.
Catchlight
Seventh, If your family looks lifeless, hopefully, it is only because of a lack of catchlights in their eye. A catchlight is a photographic term to describe light reflected in the subject’s eyes. The lack of a catchlight, even in an animal’s picture, can make the issue seem comatose.You can use a white sheet to bounce light into the subject’s eyes or use a flash. This year I used a flash.
If the subject is backlit, your flash or sheet becomes more than just a way to create a catchlight—it becomes the leading light.
When using flash, balance it to the available light. Start with a medium f/stop, like f/8, to ensure the group is all in focus. (We’re talking about depth-of-field or how much is in focus in front of and behind the point on which the lens is focused. But that’s another whole newsletter.) Make some test shots at different f/stops and see what you like the best.
Once the light looks good on the family, we can explore ways to control how the flash balances with the outdoor light. You can adjust the ISO from 100 to 400 or more with everything in program mode. The higher the ISO, the lighter the background will be provided the f/stop remains the same. Likewise, the lower the ISO, the darker the background provided the f/stop remains the same.It is easier to do darker backgrounds later in the day or early evening; for lighter backgrounds, do the session earlier in the day.
Eighth, Have everyone dress in the same or compatible colors. Earth tones like browns, greens, and tans work well outdoors. Just be sure one is dressed so differently that they look like the lead singer with a backup group on a Motown group CD cover.
We like to goof around for some of our photos.
Ninth, If you want a lot of fun, let everyone change outfits for different looks. If your family is like ours, we take goofy ones too.
Tenth, Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday.
The key to group photos is planning — and how big you plan to use the photo can make a big difference in your planning. We don’t hang wristwatches on the wall, because their faces are so small you cannot tell time with them. In most family rooms, you could have a three-inch face clock and tell the time. In a classroom, you might need a 10-inch face. The clock face size is a good rule of thumb for determining whether someone will be recognized in a wall print at a normal viewing distance.
Agnes Scott Basketball [NIKON D2X, Sigma 120-300 mm f/2.8, Mode = Manual, ISO 400, 1/200, ƒ/16, (35mm = 202) + 4 Alienbee B1600s]
The more you show in a photograph other than people’s faces, the larger the photo needs to be to recognize the people, because their face size will diminish. If your group photo is more for identification, then getting everyone close together where you can see their faces should be the primary goal. Then you can run the photo in a publication and people can tell what everyone looks like.
Truett Cathy, Dan Cathy, Bubba Cathy Perry Ragsdale, Steve Robinson, Buck McCabe, & Tim Tassopoulos
On the other hand, if your photo is more about creating a mood for a poster of, say, a hip-hop band, then you will shoot much looser and space the people out and let their body language help establish the mood. For these concept/mood photos, I like to spread people out and put people at different heights (relative to their faces). I like to think in triangles. If you were to connect the dots (faces) between people, do they make triangles? Create depth by having some people closer to the camera and others further away. This will give it a more three-dimensional feel.
Matt Ellenberg supports a Soccer Team for his employees.
Matt Ellenberg | Operator
Oxnard FSR
Chick-fil-A | Oxnard, CA
If you go to the music store and look at CD covers of music groups, you can see some of the leading work done in the industry. Try copying some of these until you get the hang of it and can come up with your own concepts.
If you pre-plan and have a good idea and have taken into consideration people’s sizes, you will move pretty quickly through the process. If you don’t, it goes slowly and your photo may fall apart — because you will lose the attention and interest of the people in the photo.
In scouting locations in advance, you are not only choosing a location because of the scenery; you are also ensuring you are there at the best time of day for a group photo. Having the sun right behind the group isn’t the best technical photo. Sometimes, a location won’t work simply because the group isn’t available at the right time of day to make the photo.
Nikon D2X, 24-120mm, ISO 100, ƒ/16, 1/200–4 Alienbees shooting through white umbrellas
I have found that if you have done your homework, you can pretty much make any group photo in 10 to 15 minutes. You may get to the location earlier, but the people in the photo should be able to be placed into position immediately — and then you are just looking for good expressions.
One last thing that can make a great impact on the quality of your photo: either have a laptop computer or TV on location to view the images as you shoot. Virtually all digital cameras will plug into a TV and let you see the image big enough to assess the smallest details — enabling you to move people only inches and improve the final product.
Every once in a while, you have enough good things come together to turn a stock photo like a headshot or group photo, in this case, into something pretty good.
Buddy McDowell & Sherry Decker with Design Directives
I was pleased with the result. The two key leaders of the design firm are out front leading their team at this Victorian home in Marietta, Georgia.
I enjoy spreading out-group photos where you can see everyone. You may have to use a larger image to see everyone, but it is a much more interesting photo.
Sherry Decker, Design Directives
The strength of the photo is that each person is an individual portrait, all put together for the group photo. This makes me want to look at the picture longer and see each person.
