ideas on a large family portrait ?

[OceanRider]

Hey all,

I am shooting my first large group portrait this weekend. A family of nine! Two parents the rest kids (ranging from baby to teenager). They live down the street.

I prefer natural light, with either a black back ground or natural setting (trees or something) Not sure what look they want yet.

Any ideas in arrangement/DOF/time of day for best light?

I was thinking 4,5,6 PM ish. Diamond/triangle arrangements. Maybe sitting on a hill, sun direct on(?) Side lighting(?)

I would love a book on posing large groups 2-15ish Anybody know of any?

Anyway any ideas would be greatly appreaciated.

Joel

[Merle]

The parents should be placed in the position of prominence (in the middle, best sitting if possible) Then place the tallest child directly behind and arrange the rest of the children in the classic pyramid or oval form around the parents. You will probably need to place the baby on the parents lap for control reasons. Ask your group to keep looking above your lens with good expressions as you will be concentrating on the baby. Family members will have a tendency to look down at the baby to see if the baby is posing properly thus you have a poor image because someone is looking down. 33 years ago when I started shooting families I was shooting film and when I would get the proofs back sometimes I would not have one image without somebody in the family looking down at the baby.;) :) :D

Good shooting to ya !!
Merle

[OceanRider]

Cheers! Great advice, thank you!

Joel

[smittymike19]

yeah, the baby. everyone looks at the baby. you need to be very clear taht everyone should focus on teh camera, as they will look down at the baby anyway. find out what time the baby is usually ready for a nap and what time he/she gets up. taht should be used to determine the time, along with the 4,5,6 pm rule, as you dont want a cranky tired baby. and tell them to make sure the baby is fed well and changed before the shoot. post soem pics so we can see how you made out.

[smittymike19]

oh and a few more items:
1. if youa re shooting with the sun behind you at that time you will get plenty of squinting people as teh sun is fairly low by then.
2. if you see a lot of "posed" smiles as opposed to real ones, try this trick. HAve everyone fake laugh for 10 seconds. They will all probably say stuff like "man this is stupid" and some will laugh really hard to be obnoxious etc.. but after 10 seconds of fake laughing, i guarantee it will turn into real laughing. then after everyone settles down a bit, have them re smile...you will see how genuine the smiles are. you may want to take a few shots during the fake laughing as these sometimes come out awesome.
good luck

[Moniphoto]

I go with merle advice....

Good luck

Moniphoto