Large Indoor group shoot.

Ed911 · December 22, 2015

I have a technique question about shooting large groups of students indoors.

My granddaughter goes to a small school...the total class size is around 110. I've volunteered to shoot the class photo...and I think I have a handle on it, but am looking for advice from experienced shooters.

I have experience photographing outdoor evens with teams in excess of 175 and have a good work process for that. But, indoors is quite a difference.

I will be photographing in the schools sanctuary.

My equipment. I have two Alienbee 800's with convertible umbrellas...shoot through or bounce with Radio Poppers...and am planning on using my D700 and Nikon 24-70mm for the shoot. I also have access to more studio lights, if I need them.

Thoughts / comments / advice appreciated.

Ed

ziggy53 · December 22, 2015

My preference is to ceiling bounce monolights, if the ceiling allows, and add a speedlight/speedlite for front fill and catch lights. If the ceiling is a white large dome(ish) shape, this can work extremely well. If the ceiling is a pitched white it can also work very nicely.

Colored ceilings are a problem as it tints the light, what I call "light poisoning". In this case it's better to use large reflectors, large umbrellas will sometimes do, and I prefer a "wall of light" approach.

You may wish to avoid light spill with colored ceilings and/or colored walls. In this case use an octobox, soft box, 60" Photek Softlighter II or similar, for each light. Position the lights and modifiers up high, with 10'-12' light stands, or even a bit higher. Point the lights/modifiers so that they feather and overlap their light together. Use a light meter to check light distribution.

It helps to have the lights and camera somewhat equidistant from each subject, to avoid unnecessary light exposure variation. Additional vertical feather of the lights can help too. Collimated light from a focused parabolic reflector can also help reduce exposure variations from near to far.

Be sure to test the setup prior to the actual shoot. Use a single person, or maybe just a couple of people, and take multiple shots with the stand-ins in different positions. Review later to see how, and if, exposure varies by position. Also review to see if you have size variations from position to position, indicated that the camera was not equidistant from all positions. (Subject size variations in a group isn't always a bad thing, but it's generally less desirable.)

Testing beforehand will also help with lens focal length selection.

Ed911 · December 26, 2015

Thanks Ziggy. I was hoping you'd answer. I was thinking along the same lines...bounce and use my speedlight for center fill and to trigger the strobes in slave mode.

I'll be shooting in a Catholic Sanctuary...fairly large building. I haven't seen the building interior.

While I only have two Alienbee 800's (320 watts), I have a friend who can bring four 750 watt studio strobes.

I will have to shoot bounce flash with my units...because shoot through just kills the output.

I have shot weddings using a brolly...and bouncing and feathering, but it was a much smaller group.

The past shooters have put up 16X20 prints, and that's what I'm looking to do.

Having enough light it imperative. I've seen what under exposure can do in post processing.

I have two 10 foot light stands. That's about as high as I can go...without purchasing another stand.

I do have one 13 foot light stand and could order another for the shoot, if you think that would be better.

Thanks, you opinion is greatly appreciated.

ziggy53 · December 27, 2015

Ed911 wrote: »

Thanks Ziggy. I was hoping you'd answer. I was thinking along the same lines...bounce and use my speedlight for center fill and to trigger the strobes in slave mode.

I'll be shooting in a Catholic Sanctuary...fairly large building. I haven't seen the building interior.(1)

While I only have two Alienbee 800's (320 watts), I have a friend who can bring four 750 watt studio strobes(2).

I will have to shoot bounce flash with my units(1)...because shoot through just kills the output.

I have shot weddings using a brolly...and bouncing and feathering, but it was a much smaller group.

The past shooters have put up 16X20 prints, and that's what I'm looking to do.

Having enough light it imperative. I've seen what under exposure can do in post processing.

I have two 10 foot light stands(1). That's about as high as I can go...without purchasing another stand.

I do have one 13 foot light stand(1) and could order another for the shoot, if you think that would be better.

Thanks, you opinion is greatly appreciated.

Point (1): Since you haven't seen the interior, saying "I will have to shoot bounce flash with my units" is a bit premature. Plan for both best case and worst case. That means, bring everything you can to cover the very real possibility that you'll have to use tripods with the monolights and umbrellas. In that case try to get the heads/umbrellas up as high as possible. Do get some additional watt-seconds of light.

See if the owner of the four 750 watt strobes has higher stands (ideally 13 foot or so). If so, you may not need any additional stands. Just use the 13 foot stand with the one AB800 and the 4 - 750s and then use your other light as a bit of fill at a lower 8'-10' height.

Do try to find out the interior of the sanctuary. If possible, use bounce, but test as soon as possible. Don't trust any other description of the interior unless you see images of the interior to corroborate.

Point (2): Yes, bring all the lights you can. You may need them all in order to get your f-stop small if you can't get the camera and lights up high enough to match the plane of faces. Still, you will need to gain as much height as possible, but I would not put the camera above the lights; that puts the lighting at an unusual angle for the subject.

If you do get to bounce all of the lights off the ceiling, the height of the stands doesn't much matter since the light is effectively coming from the ceiling.

If you have a white domed ceiling, I suggest putting the stands a little bit ahead of the camera and firing backwards into the dome. Think of the dome as a giant umbrella and point the lights accordingly.

If you have a white pitched ceiling, have the lights behind the camera and bounce the light forward off the ceiling.

In either case of a reflective ceiling, just use a bowl reflector and no umbrella or other light modifier. The ceiling should diffuse the light sufficiently.

If you need to use umbrellas, arrange the lights in a "wall of light". Just make sure that the lights are as high as possible except for a fill light. Do try to have some height separation between the lights and the camera, but a large group and a single platform for the group may not give many options. Just don't have the camera above the lights.

I suggest talking with the school's principal to understand beforehand what is allowed in the sanctuary. Often the principal is more approachable than the priest/monsignor/etc., even though the event is in the church sanctuary.

See if you can get a long look at one of those previous 16"X20" prints. Look at it carefully to understand how the photographer positioned the lights. Catchlights in the eyes and shadows behind the subjects are often the best indicators. If you can't figure the lighting accurately yourself, find another professional to help.

Above all, be respectful of the priest's/monsignor's/etc. wishes. They have the responsibility for any potential damage to the church in mind, including memory of any reckless previous photographers, and they can make or break your session.

Again, test beforehand. Don't assume that the lights are properly set and that your exposure is appropriate until you see the results of the tests, preferably on a laptop display (as opposed to the camera's LCD). The laptop gives you a much clearer indication of reality.

Also, use the camera's histogram, RGB histograms if available. Set highlight "blinkies" on. Both of these things give you a much clearer indication of exposure, if you know how to read them relative to your image processing software.

Manual mode exposure.

Shoot RAW (NEF, in this case), but remember that the histograms and blinkies are based on a standard JPG rendering, so adjust accordingly. (Use your prior experience as a guide.)

Good luck and good shooting.

Large Indoor group shoot.

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