AT THE BRIDES REQUEST....HELP...

[saravrose]

I sat down with the bride who's wedding i'm shooting next month to get her impressions, requests and go over the schedule and the photos I would like to do.. I asked her for a list of all the folks she wanted for her formal shots and asked her about special requests.. She had a few, the first she wants a picture of her fiance and two year old niece dancing.. apparently there nuts about eachother.. The second, she has ten nieces and nephews (I have there ages written down but they start at four months, by the wedding, and go up to fourteen).. anyway, she wants a group shot with all of them. the last, She wants a group shot. Of every person at her wedding.. Between eighty and a hundred people.. Yeah, okay.. so, I feel confident that the first request no problem I would have done it without her asking, the second I have an assistant sure we can pull something together.. But, a hundred people? Allrighty folks.. you see, where i'm from Brides get to have anything they want, so i'm not saying no too much trouble, too hard... So, if y'all have any shots I can use as a starting off place to get an idea of how to pull this one off or just advice please post it here.. I'll even bake ya cookies.. I make great coconut cookies.. or, you can have chocolate chip... or banana bread...or a pie.. okay, i'll bake ya whatever the heck you want just help me pull off a group shot of a hundred people...

sari

[Wedding Shooter]

Sari - key is to get some height. If you can't find a balcony or something bring a ladder and get above the crowd. Have them look up at you and close down your aperture to get good DOF.

[therosefairy]

I completely agree. I have never shot a large group photo like that, but all the ones I've seen have been shot from above with everyone facing you. Good luck! I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off.

[Kristy]

Just ask Tim about this... I've seen where he photographs a large group at a wedding. They are standing in a heart shape on green grass, and he is sureley on a ladder or a roof top or balcony or something.... The heart shape makes a nice slide for the show and it includes everyone on her list... Send Tim a PM and I bet he can direct you to his post where the photo is shown. You might like it.

You could tape off the grass to indicate where they should stand.

Good luck!! : )

[Grasshopper168]

At my wedding we had about 200 - 300 at the church, the pro used a fisheye lens and stood on about 5 steps higher than every one else. It was a excellent nice photo.

You can have the bride and groom looking at you in one photo, kissing in another etc...

[Carzee]

Got a 24 or 28mm lens and a tripod?

[saravrose]

Got a 24 or 28mm lens and a tripod?

yeah....

[PIXI_666]

Sari,
This is quite easy, just get up high and use a wide angle - not too wide to distort the people but maybe 17mm? And also use either a lens with f/4-5.6 or just stick with something like that for DOF.
I have shot a wedding of about 230 guests (Guests came that werent invited as it was a small town - just about the whole town was there just to see it lol) SO the B&G asked me to get a group shot...i had the celebrant tell them where to stand etc. and i just told them "Wave at me" as i was standing on top of a "Stage"
Worked out well - sun was in the way but i made do!
Good Luck!

Del

[saravrose]

thanks for the ideas.. getting above folks is going to prove a little tricky, the location doesn't have two stories, but she wants a group shot.. So, I'm thinking my uncle's ladder... I think it was the initial, 'you want what?'.. that made me a little nervous, a little thought and a couple of ideas and I feel a bit better about it..

sari

[PIXI_666]

You'll be FINE! The ladder will work well, as long as you take safety precautions first and get someone to hold the bottom! :)

[tim]

Get up as high as you can, and use as long a lens as you can. ie if you can get up one story you might get to use a 30mm lens which is great, if you can only get a few steps up and use a 12mm lens that's ok but you'll get some distortion. Try to avoid flash, the relative distances between the closest person and furtherest person means it's not so good, but a bit of fill flash will bring the bride and groom out. Do this photo RIGHT after the ceremony, before everyone wanders off. After a ceremony there's always 5-15 minutes of general milling about, don't try and cut that short, just roll with what happens but don't let anyone escape!

Don't sweat it, it's easy stuff :)

[sapearl]

One thing that works well for me is enlisting the aid of either the DJ or the band leader at the reception. I'll usually introduce myself to them shortly after arriving at the reception; very helpful for getting a copy of the agenda, evening plans, timing of events like cake cutting, garter/bouquet toss...

I always carry a short ladder with me on jobs. For large groups it's either the ladder, a stair case or balcony for my vantage point when I'm doing a group. Once I'm in position the DJ will make an announcement and direct everybody's attention to my vantage point. Then I take over direction of the crowd and give instructions.

The shots work out pretty well this way and most of the time nobody regards it as a bother. - Stu

[delhi]

i think getting everyone together would be quite a task....

[rdking01]

saravrose, basically it's like this
height,
wide angle,
prayer! and cocunut cookies to rdking01....yea

[jamiewexler]

I get this request all of the time. Like everyone said, look for elevation and shoot with the widest lens you can.

None of these will win any awards for exposure (most of them are from very early weddings - you can tell by the lenses :))

From a church balcony (Tamron 28-75):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/group5.jpg

From a second story deck (Sigma 18-50):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/group4.jpg

From a 2 step stepstool...I bring one of these to every wedding. I use it to shoot bridal portraits from a high angle, shoot couples on the dance floor, and get group shots. With the step stool and a fisheye, you can shoot from pretty close up. Here's one from about 6 feet away with a Peleng 8mm circular fisheye (I had to crop my feet out):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/group1.jpg

From the same stepstool (different wedding) with my Sigma 10-20:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/group3.jpg

Sometimes I need a little more height, for this shot I used a stepstool on the bandstand (Sigma 18-50):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/group.jpg

If you don't have a stepstool, but you have a nice set of steps...(Canon 17-40): http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/group6.jpg

[SuzyView]

OOO. I like the graduated ones on stairs. For lighting, I've seen a very high stand with a huge umbrella with slave attached, cord to the camera slightly under. High up is the key and outdoors, if possible. I agree that the 17 distorts too much for my taste, so I use it on the longer end or put on another lens around 30mm. If you need a tall stand with umbrella, they are not too expensive. DOF is something to consider as well. Put everyone in focus.

[jamiewexler]

As long as you're not too close, 17mm's doesn't distort too much, and it has the added advantage of giving you lots of DOF...

[sapearl]

Jamie, that's a wonderfully clear shot of the group by the water considering its size. B&G can easily make out their guests.

For the first shot of the guests wedged between the church pews did you use any fill flash to supplement the ambient light?

I don't own a fisheye - I feel they have their place, but am always a bit leary about their use with people. Nonetheless it's obvious you worked hard at these weddings - thanks for sharing!

I get this request all of the time. Like everyone said, look for elevation and shoot with the widest lens you can.

None of these will win any awards for exposure (most of them are from very early weddings - you can tell by the lenses :))

[dandan]

if you arent using a strobe, or it can keep up, shoot a burst of about 5 images for every angle or whatever, then if somebody is blinking, or looks ugly in one, photoshop the face from one where they arent blinking or look better.

ive done like many group shots this way, if you are good enough at PS it shouldnt be hard.

[Ray Marrero]

I have actually seen a photographer shoot a large group in the park with a Ladder. He did have someone holding the ladder and he shot a few.

[jamiewexler]

Jamie, that's a wonderfully clear shot of the group by the water considering its size. B&G can easily make out their guests.

For the first shot of the guests wedged between the church pews did you use any fill flash to supplement the ambient light?

I don't own a fisheye - I feel they have their place, but am always a bit leary about their use with people. Nonetheless it's obvious you worked hard at these weddings - thanks for sharing!

Thanks! The church aisle shot was all natural light. It was my fourth or fifth wedding and I hadn't yet tamed my artifical lights (so I shot natural whenever I could get handholdable SS's). Shame too, the strong window light from the left blew out the skin on a few of the folks. If I had to shoot it today, I'd have exposed for the highlights and bounced my flash off the ceiling to fill the shadow areas...

[sapearl]

Know how you feel - I've been the victim of strong side lighting myself a few times, and in pre-Photoshop days using film :cry: ; a baaaaaad situation.

Usually that was using medium format gear, ASA 400 film and some good size Metz units - I'd end up shooting the flash head-on at around f8. It would eliminate much of the side overexposure and make for some nice crisp, facial images. Bouncing would not have worked for me at that ASA, and also considering the dark overhead beams.

But now that I'm starting to use the 5D with the 580 and can get away with higher ISO settings, I'm going to have to rethink some of my approaches. You guys have shown be some methods that I wouldn't have considered before using film.

Stu
Thanks! The church aisle shot was all natural light. It was my fourth or fifth wedding and I hadn't yet tamed my artifical lights (so I shot natural whenever I could get handholdable SS's). Shame too, the strong window light from the left blew out the skin on a few of the folks. If I had to shoot it today, I'd have exposed for the highlights and bounced my flash off the ceiling to fill the shadow areas...

[dshootist]

well, it's not a wedding, but it is a group of close to 80 people. and at night, no less. this was done @ 1600 with a 10D, 19-35 3.5-4.5 and a 420EX on the second floor deck behind a friend of mine's house. the yard slowly slopes away from the house, so i had to get everyone to scrunch in as close as possible. i wish i'd had better lighting, cause the amount of noise i ended up with is very aggravating...:)

[tim]

That's an example of why you want natural light, or everyone about the same distance from the light source. You did a good job given your circumstances.

[sapearl]

Still, a very good effort; you're able to make out individual faces and it captures the spirit of the event.

I don't know if you shot in RAW or .jpg, but to my eye the folks in the back row look to be maybe just a stop or two darker. Perhaps using the brightness (f-stop equivalent in RAW) control in ACR2 you could brighten them up a bit, or just "dodge" them out a little in PS; just one way to make a nice photo better. ;) But hey, you did a good job in an extreme situation. - Stu

well, it's not a wedding, but it is a group of close to 80 people. and at night, no less. this was done @ 1600 with a 10D, 19-35 3.5-4.5 and a 420EX on the second floor deck behind a friend of mine's house. the yard slowly slopes away from the house, so i had to get everyone to scrunch in as close as possible. i wish i'd had better lighting, cause the amount of noise i ended up with is very aggravating...:)

[Sharyn1983]

take a ton right in a row. and then use photoshop to get one with everyone's eyes open. As you can see with Jamie's last shot, getting 100 people to all have a great face for just one shot can be brutal. Photoshop to the rescue.

[sapearl]

Oh my aching mouse button! :(

This would certainly be a glutton for punishment. You don't want the public to know the extent of your talent and abilities - then they will expect EVERYTHING out of you.....and at a discount, yet. Just kidding ;). The public seems to think that PS is the holy grail and we can simply wave the magic wand to fix their facial imperfections in mere seconds.

take a ton right in a row. and then use photoshop to get one with everyone's eyes open.......

[Sharyn1983]

I just paste their head or eyes from another picture. It is quite easy