Help Group Portrait

[mfrobinson]

I am going to be taking a group portrait next week and would like to get some tips and ideas before I get there. First of all - the pics I will be taking are of my family and I assume they will not be as good as a pro but I would like them to come out as good as possible.

I will be using a Cannon 10D with a 550EX flash mounted on a tripod and photographing group shots of about 8 - 12 people in front of a large fireplace. The fireplace will probably not show in the photos but the brick wall will show behind and above the people.

Is the 550EX good enough or is it worth my time and money to purchase additional lights - either and umbrella with strobe or some kind of spot lighting.

Also any tips on posing, shutter speeds, arperatures, lighting or any other comments would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Ken Fong]

A traditional setup (Main and fill light off to sides of camera) works great for 1-4 people, but for groups larger than 4, it gets tricky because you have more shadows to keep track of. In this case, modeling lights would help. I would look into a set of Alienbees if you want to expand your lighting set for a good value.

In your case with a single flash, shooting with the flash mounted on the camera aimed directly at your subjects is usually not very flattering...this usually results in a cold 'forensic' look. But I think you can get by with one flash as long as you diffuse it. For simplicity, diffuse your 550EX with an omnibounce, or bounce it off the ceiling. The upside of a single-flash setup is less shadow problems...but be sure to review the shot immediately and look for shadows in faces anyway.
As a last resort (if you need the light), you can use the flash with no diffusion, but be sure the flash's hotspot (brightest area) is not directly on your subject; fire it just over their heads to 'feather' the subjects with more appealing light (the portion just outside the hotspot).

To help with your focusing, try to get all of your subjects' faces on a single focal plane. If dealing with multiple rows, get the back row to lean forward, front row to lean back, etc...but keep their poses natural if possible. If you can't keep everyone on the same focal plane, get your camera higher (use a step ladder) and shoot downward...this forces your multiple-row subjects into the same focal plane. Turn off the autofocus and manually focus on the central person's eyes.
For exposures, try shots with +.5 and + 1 higher stops flash output; digital cameras tend to underexpose (just check your histogram immediately.) F/8 or F/11 are supposedly the optimal apertures for portraits...avoid using wide open apertures for group shots, you will most likely run into focus problems. Also, if you have time, learn to use an incidental light meter (as a flash meter)...I think this will ultimately lead to the best exposures.

For posing, try to put everyone standing at angles...perhaps toward the center...no need to tilt their heads, it will happen naturally. Also, be sure to crack jokes and take photos 'after the shot'...these smiles tend to be more relaxed and often look better than the 'formal' shot. Make sure your tripod is high enough (camera at subject's head level) and use a trigger release so you can inspect and interact with your subjects as you shoot.

[robertwgross]

To Ken's remarks, I would add one. Get everybody to point their outer foot slightly forward of the inner foot.

It may be helpful if you knew which lens you intended to use, and at what approximate distance.

It's already been mentioned what happens if you "line up everybody against the wall." Now, imagine if you go to the other extreme. Suppose the wall is five feet away from the camera on the right, and it is twelve feet away on the left. As the flash light spreads out, it may make the wall on the right lit up nicely, and the wall on the left will look like the Black Hole of Calcutta. If you used two flash units, you can shoot one somewhat toward the near side and shoot another one (brighter) bounced toward the far side.

---Bob Gross---

[charlesu]

This is going to be tough because of the size of the group. I'd recommend you get some studio strobes. Either a small kit like a Speedo Brown or Novatron. If you can spring for more, look for decent monolights. Or, if you are in a major area, rent them. You can get a setup with lights and stands for probably $50 for the day. Well worth it.

You will want at least 2 lights and fairly large diffusers to help even the light and reduce the harshness and shadows. You will also need to take some time to figure out how you are going to arrange all those people. Who's in front (kneeling or sitting) who is standing, and then how they are spread. 8 is not too bad. By the time you get to 12, depending on where you are shooting, you might need to look to going to 3 rows.

[mfrobinson]

Thanks for the help and suggestions, many things I had not thought of.

In response to the comments:
I do have a defusser on the flash and I can bounce it off the ceiling
Unfortunatly the room is small so I expect with two rows of people the back row will be about two feet from the wall and the camera will be about 8 - 10 feet away from the front row
I will probably use a 18-50mm lens at about 25mm

If I were to add two lights, would they be at about 45 degrees to the people off to the sides of the camera and would it be not worth it to add only 1 more light because of the shadows?

Thanks again for the suggestions.