Strap two legs of the tripod to the rail of the lift with bungee cords if you really need to. But honestly; if you plan on using a higher shutter speed, hand hold would be fine.

You also need to watch the ground shadows. To that, if you you have the lift positioned where it is right now, I might line everyone up with the first row starting at the end of the second row of spots (tailgate of the pickup). That should let you frame the image. Also keep in mind you have some mobility with the lift and can reposition as required. It would be good for you to think about how you want people positioned and at the beginning of your shoot, communicate your ideas to them. "If you look in front of you, you'll see a series of marks on the ground that create a box. If you're outside of the box, you won't be in the picture" and other useful instruction. That's a lot of people to corral so the more you do to plan out the shot and get it done quickly, the better.

I also like the idea of not shooting the crowd head on but from a corner (of the box they're in). And a final shot suggestion. If people have hats, you could ask them to keep them in front of them while you get the shots you need. Then as a last shot or two, have them throw the hats in the air (or jump if there's room).

Good luck!

Originally Posted by ian408 Strap two legs of the tripod to the rail of the lift with bungee cords if you really need to. But honestly; if you plan on using a higher shutter speed, hand hold would be fine. You also need to watch the ground shadows. To that, if you you have the lift positioned where it is right now, I might line everyone up with the first row starting at the end of the second row of spots (tailgate of the pickup). That should let you frame the image. Also keep in mind you have some mobility with the lift and can reposition as required. It would be good for you to think about how you want people positioned and at the beginning of your shoot, communicate your ideas to them. "If you look in front of you, you'll see a series of marks on the ground that create a box. If you're outside of the box, you won't be in the picture" and other useful instruction. That's a lot of people to corral so the more you do to plan out the shot and get it done quickly, the better. I also like the idea of not shooting the crowd head on but from a corner (of the box they're in). And a final shot suggestion. If people have hats, you could ask them to keep them in front of them while you get the shots you need. Then as a last shot or two, have them throw the hats in the air (or jump if there's room). Good luck!

Thanks so much, again.

Yep, I got the shadow part.

We will be in an entirely different location - part of the reason for the shot is to capture the new school building - construction company has a vested interest.

Love the idea to throw hats.

Also, I will take more test shots an hour or so before the shot and check the results.

I may hold the camera - all depends on how I feel up in the air then, will secure tripod just to make sure.

I will need to bring a cover for the LCD screen due to glare - really experienced that today.

I have one more question that is pretty basic but still don't know. It regards depth of field.
When taking a photo with a fair amount of depth - front to back.

Do I use:
Single-point AF: and if so - is the single point 1/3 rd of the way of into the image (in the foreground), in the middle or 1/3 to the rear?

Dynamic-area AF: - 9 - 21 or 51 point? Seems like 51 point would be a good choice for the stationary shot?

3D-tracking: - for moving subjects - I suppose would be good for hat throwing?

And last - do you have a sample image of shooting from the corner. That intrigues me.

Thanks, Phil

I don't have a handy sample but you can get an idea by googling "large group photo" or something.

If you're planning on including a building in the shot, you should probably rethink the height and distance of the group in order to fit everything in the frame that you need to. Meaning shoot from 20' up instead of 30'-something like that.

Use a depth of field calculator to determine DOF. You'll need lens information. But if you were gonna use the same lens in your test photo, everything that's about 12' in front of your focus point to infinity to the rear will be in focus.

Don't rely on the LCD for confirming your results. Too inaccurate.

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus Thanks so much, again. Yep, I got the shadow part. We will be in an entirely different location - part of the reason for the shot is to capture the new school building - construction company has a vested interest. Love the idea to throw hats. Also, I will take more test shots an hour or so before the shot and check the results. I may hold the camera - all depends on how I feel up in the air then, will secure tripod just to make sure. I will need to bring a cover for the LCD screen due to glare - really experienced that today. I have one more question that is pretty basic but still don't know. It regards depth of field. When taking a photo with a fair amount of depth - front to back. Do I use: Single-point AF: and if so - is the single point 1/3 rd of the way of into the image (in the foreground), in the middle or 1/3 to the rear? Dynamic-area AF: - 9 - 21 or 51 point? Seems like 51 point would be a good choice for the stationary shot? 3D-tracking: - for moving subjects - I suppose would be good for hat throwing? And last - do you have a sample image of shooting from the corner. That intrigues me. Thanks, Phil

Well, I planned and planned some more. The weather forecast was 50% chance of thunderstorms and one hour before it looked like it was going to rain. But Michigan weather changes rapidly and in this case too good - too much shadow. One hour before the cloud cover would have been perfect.

I had backup plans for a shot in the church and shot in the parish hall with a checklist.

I used Cambridge in Colors depth of field guide to determine where to set my focal point. Tough to do because the weather was changing so rapidly and the wind was blowing a little.

I was 20 feet up on cherry picker.
Strapped tripod to the side of the cherry picker and went for a ride.
Set camera to shutter priority 1/320th of second (windy), f/16, 26mm.
Used 10 second timer, closed the viewfinder as suggested in D800 user manual. Used Nikon 24-70mm.

Cropped photo for 8x10 (planned in advance so many people could purchase) and 16x20. I gave it lots of space to be able to crop later.


Things I would different.
1. Wear a hat and put on sun screen even if forecast was not good.
2. Bring something to cover LCD screen so I could chimp image.
3. Set the back line first and then bring in the chairs. Chairs were set first and outline the area where I wanted people to stand.
4. Be more patient and use the ground crew a little bit more than I did. I had a little too much post editing to remove stray people and stuff.

Phil - thanks for all your comments in helping plan this shot.

Looks good!

Originally Posted by ian408 Looks good!

Thank you much. I was wondering what your reaction was going to be.

Phil

Below is how the tripod was setup. I strapped two legs of the tripod to the lift with a bungee cord and collapsed the third leg. Worked well.

We'll done, and I appreciate the follow up description of technique used and the final image. Some shadows on the faces, but the only way this could have been avoided is if the cloud cover had remained for the shoot. Or a really big soft box in the sky.

When I was in Africa, I bungie corded a tripod to a grab rail in the LandRover, in lieu of a RRS clamp set up, as well. I used the rubber covered flexible metal wire ties and they worked quite nicely.

Originally Posted by pathfinder We'll done, and I appreciate the follow up description of technique used and the final image. Some shadows on the faces, but the only way this could have been avoided is if the cloud cover had remained for the shoot. Or a really big soft box in the sky. When I was in Africa, I bungie corded a tripod to a grab rail in the LandRover, in lieu of a RRS clamp set up, as well. I used the rubber covered flexible metal wire ties and they worked quite nicely.

Thanks. I did a little editing to lighten some shadows of a few faces, but couldn't do much more.

The most difficult part of the shot was location of the people. The front row with chairs is for older people - some are in the 90s - so needed to establish that and not move.

I did some calculations as to how much sq. footage would be needed for the estimated number of people to be in the shot. Then we laid out the area - keeping in mind that I wanted a 4/5 ratio print instead of a wide landscape print to keep the print price down.

Another consideration was to keep the new school building in view.

Bottom line - the technical and artistic considerations were only part of the task.