need suggestions/ideas

Lizardsim

Hi, everyone!
I'm a newbie here!
I have my first large family (3 families combined--10 people) photo shoot. We will be outdoors.
I have ideas floating around in my head, but would love some examples or ideas of how you've best photographed a large group like that.
Thanks for any input.
E.

Trevlan

Lizardsim wrote:

Hi, everyone!
I'm a newbie here!
I have my first large family (3 families combined--10 people) photo shoot. We will be outdoors.
I have ideas floating around in my head, but would love some examples or ideas of how you've best photographed a large group like that.
Thanks for any input.
E.

I would recommend three strobes in umbrellas. One to the group left, one at the camera and one at the camera right. I suggest using a 4th light, (the Sun) as like a back light. Depending on what focal length you are going to use, you'll need some space. A large group like that should fit nicely with a 22mm shot at like 10-15 feet away from them. If you don't have shoot through umbrellas, you'll need a few reflectors and some people to hold them for you.

cj99si

I actually just shot a nightmare like that (3 family's 16 people) My client wanted all B and W's with some posed and some "action" non posed shots . I shot for about an hr and came away with about 100 keepers. I used a 70-200 2.8 and 10-22. It was midday and the sun was pretty harsh, I only used an onboard 550 for flash. If the main purpose was the group shot I would have set that up a little bit better.. There not my favorite but the client was very happy. Heres a few from that day.
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13

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15

Lizardsim

Thank you!
Thanks, y'all, for the advice and for the photo examples!

I won't have the umbrellas with me, but I had already planned to enlist some assistants to help hold reflectors, so you confirmed my instincts.

tonichelle

For posing I try to find a couple to build around. if it's something like grandma and grandpa want big family shots then they're focus because they started the whole thing... then I work out to make it 'uniform'...

then it's just snap snap snap and a lot of it because with all those many eyes and mouths ain't no way you can get them all working together for you especially if there are young children!



and if there are little kids, melt downs are stressful in the moment, but offer some hysterical keepers later on!

Jazmyn76

if you have one, a little step stool would be good to have on hand too so you're not shooting them 'dead on'. i find the shots tend to look nice if you're a little higher than the same level of your subjects for large shots. not WAY up there (you dont want their necks to be craned up to look at you), but say a small step that puts you about 6-8" off the ground. it helps me get everyon'es faces in the shots.
and i'd absolutely second the taking a bunch of candid 'in-actions' after and/or before the more formal group shots. keeps things relaxed and enjoyable.
good luck, and have fun with it!

Trevlan

Jazmyn76 wrote:

if you have one, a little step stool would be good to have on hand too so you're not shooting them 'dead on'. i find the shots tend to look nice if you're a little higher than the same level of your subjects for large shots. not WAY up there (you dont want their necks to be craned up to look at you), but say a small step that puts you about 6-8" off the ground. it helps me get everyon'es faces in the shots.
and i'd absolutely second the taking a bunch of candid 'in-actions' after and/or before the more formal group shots. keeps things relaxed and enjoyable.
good luck, and have fun with it!

What Jazmyn is recommending is also great for opening up the eyes of your subjects. You can use that technique not only for large groups but for portraits. You'll see the results when you are shooting people with beutiful eyes.

joshhuntnm

Lizardsim wrote:

Hi, everyone!
I'm a newbie here!
I have my first large family (3 families combined--10 people) photo shoot. We will be outdoors.
I have ideas floating around in my head, but would love some examples or ideas of how you've best photographed a large group like that.
Thanks for any input.
E.

use a ladder and get up high.
Also, remember to close down the aperture or the front or back row won't be in focus.

Lizardsim

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate the suggestions.
E.

rsparts

this shot is hilarious - "oops bobby fell down"

Sorry I have no real input for this thread

angevin1

I quite like them all!

I like your group shot mostly because it allows the sky as a background and is not distracting of the human silhouette. I agree that ladders offer alternatives that are seemingly necessary for groups, but this one is nicely done, for me. I also like #8 for this same reasoning. I do like that moon too!

cheers, tom

Justiceiro

If you use a 10-22 be careful about distortion. The people at the edges of that shot are going to look quite funny.

sweet caroline

I had a large family shoot yesterday. It rained on us, after which my flash acted up and the kids got uncomfortable. The dark clouds rolled in just as we were starting our shoot. It was a tough day. But, I was able to stay calm and positive. The family had a good time and they are happy with the results. There were definitely things I should have done differently! Thanks to the weather, there was no time for the more spontaneous type of photos I like to do. Here's one of the whole group of 11:



And one of the cousins:



The family that hired me:



Sisters:



Caroline