Taking a Picture of a Football Team/Cheerleaders in Front of an Air Force Jet

[clarkkent]

I have the opportunity to take a picture of a football team and cheerleaders (seniors only, around 30 total) in front of an Air Force jet. The purpose of the picture is a promotional poster for the team's football season. I need any advice you can give me because I am going in to this blindly.
What I know/assuming/thinking about...
-The jet will be on the tarmac.
-I am not sure if I have a choice in which direction the jet will be facing but I am assuming it should be in a North/South direction.
-I do not have portable strobes so I may need to use my 550 flash. There may me power around somewhere for my strobes.
-With only 30-some people should I crop closely to the front of the jet or should I include the whole thing?
-Should I bring a tall ladder so that I can increase the angle to favor both the jet and players?
-This is suppose to be a "tough" looking shot. Do I make the cheerleaders look "tough"?
I do mainly senior portraits and event photography so something of this nature is new to me.

Thanks for any advice you give me!
CK

[Tommy]

I would suggest that you shoot a few frames with the whole jet in view, and a few of the team with the jet cropped. Also, a few from the tarmac, and a few from the ladder... basically get a bunch of different shots from a bunch of different angels, different compositions, etc. Then, you can decide which looks the best afterwards. ;)

Hope this helps,
- Tom

[RossW]

Do I make the cheerleaders look "tough"?

Perhaps not tough, but you can probably get a pose that says "defiant" or "don't mess with our team," etc. I see them as standing, perhaps one arm outstretched like throwing a punch with a pom-pom. Other arm bent with hand on waist. Just not with both arms up (too much like surrender) or outstretched. If it's a co-ed squad, perhaps a few being lifted or in a pyramid. Of course, you should try a few different poses with them to see what works overall. (Just avoid having them sit on that hot tarmac!!) :o

[Mike_M]

Follow-up question: I too will be doing a football high school football team photo - possibly with a plane or tank. My question is whether it would be helpful to use more than one flash with a large (wide) group? I was planning on metering for ambient light and setting the flash (es) at -1. Any suggestions?