HELP....11 people?!?!

I posted this originally on the People forum, but I think this is the better place. Still new to P.O.T.N. and learning all of the posting locations.

I'm shooting an 11 person (4 generation) party tomorrow night (Friday). They are friends of a good friend (all out of town) and I want this to really turn out good. I'm comfortable with the normal 2,3, or 4 person shoots. But I'm really scrambling looking for tips, tricks, hints, recommendations and/or posing suggestions or examples for a group this size.

I have backdrops and plenty of lighting, but the posing is the weak link. It will be after dark and indoors...plenty of room.

Thanks for any help....

I wish I could help you. Good luck

Fortunately, you'll find some online suggestions.

With groups, you can line everyone up side by side, or you can find a way to arrange people so they show some personality. The trick may be to find an interesting, unconventional location that has its own "personality" and find a fresh way to arrange the people in that location.

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One of the tricks is to get nice even lighting. One of the problems is getting shadows from people cast onto other people in a bad way. So I typically light larger groups with two lights camera left and right point in at 45 degrees and another light at camera... usually above the camera about 2 or three feet.

Another thing to watch for that is rarely mentioned is to try and arrange them to roughly the same aspect ratio as your sensor/view finder or aspect ratio of the final print. By this I mean if you were to just line them all up in one row and you get them all in the shot you end up with a lot of space above and below their faces that is not adding much to the image... and to make them all fit you will have to step back or use wider angle making them a smaller part of the image itself.

But arrange them in rows, staggering them, etc. to the point where they are taking up both vertical and horizontal room and now you get an image that is much easier to look at, holds more interest.

Thanks, folks. I'll post a couple shots when completed.

Jim...

i shooting a group of 11 very soon...where are the completed shots?

tjaudet829 wrote in post #13513315
i shooting a group of 11 very soon...where are the completed shots?

Why not start your own new post? This thread is over 3 years old. I doubt the OP is coming back to share his photo.

It is so random when 2-3yr old topics come back from the dead

Well, we could all join together and call jimmy_k!

Kinda late but I was reorganizing my bookmarks as I can't find anything and I came across this.

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1079962

Thanks I will take a look.
i think my gear might limit me a bit. i have 2 reflective umbrellas (on the smaller size) w/stands
tripod probably about 60" 3 flash 430ex, 420ez, yongunou 462 along with yongunou triggers to fire.
Also black fabric back drop.
Took some test shots last night 2 umbrellas 45 deg each from camera and above. one flash on floor behind for backlight. I was really suprised how weak the light seemed.
I was at av7.1 ss 1/80 iso 400 and still seemed a bit underexposed. Not to mention not very sharp with the 18-55 kit ( which was at about 35mm).

BrandonSi wrote in post #13513323
Why not start your own new post? This thread is over 3 years old. I doubt the OP is coming back to share his photo.

I did.

Invertalon wrote in post #13513824
It is so random when 2-3yr old topics come back from the dead

That's helpful.

tonylong wrote in post #13515211
Well, we could all join together and call jimmy_k!

more help thanks!

Maybe something like this will help with the shadow?

http://www.youtube.com …4FkczbfTE&featu​re=related

i'll have to check from home later thanks.

Chuck Gardner has a good tutorial on photographing groups:

Photographing Groups