large Family

[littled123]

Okay, I have been asked to take a family photo of about 30 people.

I will be shooting this outside.

I have two 430s off camera. What kind of light modifier would be best to do this?

I have one umbrella, but wasn't sure if I should just get another one, or something else.

[littled123]

any suggestions?

[sdipirro]

I don't have experience doing this type of shot, but since no one else has chimed in yet, I thought I'd offer my two cents. The two 430s will probably NOT be enough to light 30 people on their own, but in an outdoor setting, using them to fill shadows where you have adequate ambient lighting, I think you'll be OK. Using them for fill, you probably want broad coverage, and umbrellas certainly give you that. I just used two strobes with two umbrellas to do a large family portrait indoors. If it was me, I'd pick up a second umbrella...but, of course, if you look at my gear list, you'll see that I'm insane. So don't go by me!

[ootsk]

That's a tough question to answer, given what little we have to go on. There's SO many variables to consider. Location, time of day, background, etc.
So since I've got a few free minutes, and a few beers in me, let's think this through.
1) Full sun, hitting them in the face, no flash really needed. (not really recommended)
2) Full sun, behind them. You can expose for their faces, minus one stop or less, and let the flashes get you that extra stop, but this will likely blow out the background. (possible..some like that effect)
3) Full shade, where you can expose slightly under and let the flash do the rest. Probably won't blow out the background, but then again, the background is probably a wall/building/something that's giving you the shade. (not bad, if it's not a gross/ugly background)
4 Mottled shade caused by trees. Potential hot spots caused by sun, but if it's behind them you can treat it kind of like #3. (highly desirable)
Now, what I consider in these circumstances is what the flashes are actually capable of.
First off, be sure to keep your flashes UNDER your max-synch speed. If you go above, you slip into HSS mode, GREATLY reducing your flash power.
That said, if you're only needing a small burst for fill and shadow reduction, you can probably use a umbrella or two. Try to keep them as close as practicle. (I'd get matching units, for credibility at the least)
If you're going to be using the flashes a LOT, at close to full power, you have no choice but to ditch the umbrellas and use bare flashes.
Also, the higher power the flashes are used at...the more fall-off you'll experience. So if you're stacking the people 4 rows deep, the front will be brighter than the back row. ANOTHER reason to get the exposure close to right without the flash, then relying on the flash to just add "pop" and fill in a few shadows.
Hope that helps.

[littled123]

I am hoping to get everyone fitting under a large gazebo at a local park so the subjects will be in shade. or it will be right near it in mottled shade.

I will go ahead and purchase another umbrella and do my best!

[tim]

Nope, won't work. If you put people in shade with a sunny background behind them you need to bring them up to the light level of the background, preferably a stop more. That's not possible with two 430s.

Gazebo's are pretty horrible for photos, in my experience. I don't use them. You'd be better off finding another shaded area not no speckled light and not using any flash. Lighting 30 people outdoors during the day is difficult, I have years of experience and I don't use flash on large groups like that. Uneven illumination and shadows from the lights are two typical problems.

Tell us more about the shoot. When, where, who, and what they've asked for. If they've just said "photos of a 30 person family" that's easier, you can do what you like. Line 'em up in rows, take a shot. Move them around, take a shot, with a broken up informal setup, search for "toogy style" in the wedding forum. Then do smaller subfamily groups.

Doing it well is a bit harder than doing it.

[littled123]

well It is actually of my family. My cousin is the normal photographer in the family, but he is one more fore creative photos vs I am more traditional. My Granny likes my work better so she asked me to do it. Her plan was to have me do it in the spring and I could actually get a good location and work a little more with everyone...........But it turns out some of the family one be coming in town during the spring so she asked If I could so it the day after Christmas. I at first said no, but then thought more about it and my Grandpa most likely wont be around next time we can all get together so i caved and said yes.

I have the option to go wherever. We live right on the beach, but thats the "typical" family portrait around here so I do not want to have the location there. plus it being winter the wind there is crazy.

We will have grandparents in there 80s all the way down to two kids that are two.

Its jsut the thing that I dont know many locations that can suit a group this large :/ hmmmm Ill have to think more.

[tim]

Moving 30 people around is difficult, elderly people and children especially. Sometimes you can't have them walk more than a few meters. I'd concentrate on locations that are within very easy walking distance.

[mitchman]

I'd shoot indoors in a large room with an interesting background. Something other than a white wall. Maybe a church? Social hall? Dunno.

Then I would use your two speedlights with silver umbrellas (or shoot through umbrellas). The brighter/more reflective the better. Your speedlights aren't that bright so don't use a modifier that kills too much of the light. You may end up having to use them without a modifier. Place the lights so they are parallel to the group, not at an angle. You'll want to raise them up a little higher than the tallest person.

The final challenge is positioning the people. With only two lights, you'll have problems with people in the front row casting shadows on the people in the back row. Take some test shots and position people accordingly.

Don't forget about your depth of field. Depending on your camera and the distance you are from the group you'll need around f/5 or higher to get both the front row and back row in focus. This means you're going to need even more power from your lights. I'm guessing you'll have to bump up your ISO to around 320 or even 640 to get a usable shutter speed.

Oh and I'd use a tripod and tell your group to sand real still. (you don't have big lights so your shutter speed will be slow)

Hope this helps!

[tim]

Of course if flash is your main light shutter speed is irrelevant, except for exposing the background. Set it at 1/125th to be safe. ISO800 is fine. Canon cameras are meant to work better at full iso stops - 100, 200, 400, 800, etc.