Anyone had success with reeeeally big group shot? (150+)?

urbanaries

I was approached to cover a family reunion documentary-style, getting candids and some informal group shots, but they also want to do a big group at the football field on the premises, so there will be bleachers, and it will be outdoors. What type of lighting would I need for this? It's not a high paying gig and i'm hesitant to take it and then have to go out and buy a bunch of studio strobes. I will need those in the future, sure, but I am just not ready to buy them this week.

Can my 580ex handle this outdoors, depending on the sun's position? (i'm fairly sure the answer is no, i'm just checking for posterity. )

Andy

You will need MUCH more light than the 580ex can give you. Much more.

Consider taking MANY shots, and stitching them.

Don't forget to leave room in your composition for cropping, for the dreaded 8x10 format.

jeffreaux2

The photographer who took the photo of our local f ball team puts all the boys in the bleachers and relies on the sun. You could bracket several shots, then replace underexposed or overexposed heads. I would bet that even if you had 3 580's it would be tough to light them all evenly. You could also set a certain time of day to get all of them together for that shot, so the light is in your favor.

urbanaries

Andy wrote:

You will need MUCH more light than the 580ex can give you. Much more.

Consider taking MANY shots, and stitching them.

Don't forget to leave room in your composition for cropping, for the dreaded 8x10 format.

Definitely confirming my initial reaction...I am not the right person for the job. I'm sure other photographers in the area are more suited for this. It's just not in my area of interest or setup. Thanks for the confirmation!

photogmomma

Well, if it's a cloudy day, you have it made! !

But I recently turned down a similar shoot. Sounded like a nightmare, personally. I've done one on a ladder like that for the last wedding I did, but I was lucky to have a cloudy time for it. (It was interesting since I had to tape my tripod onto the ladder and it started getting windy. YIKES!)

rwells

No disrespect to anyone, but I would go for it with the 580EX.

I have used this flash many a time in very dim arena's, and had success up to 200'.

You, on the other hand will also have the sun, so, all you need is fill flash.

I believe the 580EX is up to the task if you use it correctly.

Just so that what I say was not pulled out of my hat, here are a couple of recent pics with the 580EX in a dim arena. The distance to the kids in both pics is about 120'. (not good pics, but does show the lighting capabilities of the 580EX)

Decide for yourself if you think the 580EX can handle "fill flash" at a much closer range.

Remember: If the flash is close to your subjects, the light falloff is fairly sharp maybe 20'-30' out, after that it will level off. That's in manual mode, ETTL does a very good job.

NOTE: Use a flash bracket or off camera flash, I didn't and got monster eyes.

As always, YMMV

HiSPL

Surely there will be ambient light available. Put them in the bleachers, and stand on a ladder. If you have a bean bag or something don't hesitate to drag the shutter. People can hold still enough for a 1/8th exposure. Or just do what this guy does! :uhoh

gpphotos

holy crap.

hey, if you have a $4000 camera body collecting dust, why not?

saurora

HiSPL wrote:

Surely there will be ambient light available. Put them in the bleachers, and stand on a ladder. If you have a bean bag or something don't hesitate to drag the shutter. People can hold still enough for a 1/8th exposure. Or just do what this guy does! :uhoh

:wow Cool results, but OMG!!!!

photogmomma

If you can set your camera to a 2-3 second timer, and then do a bracket with 1/3 stop differences, you could easily get three shots doing that. But NOT with my camera, thank you!

Nikolai

These two are my biggest ever, both taken in Feb 2007 at the Rose Bowl grounds (Pasadena).
Click on the image to get a bigger version.



and



Both are handheld panos, made on the run, stitched in CS3

HTH

dogwood

My biggest here-- maybe half the people of your shoot? Shot outside on an overcast day with no lights.

Nikolai

dogwood wrote:

My biggest here-- maybe half the people of your shoot? Shot outside on an overcast day with no lights.

Good use of props!
We don't have too many overcast days here

Another thing is to use bleachers, all annual band photos are done this way. No lights too.