Taking Group Shots: Best Settings?

Hello all!

I have been contracted by my sister's basketball team (a Division 1 program) to take their team photos, group photos, family photos, and head shots. It is my first really big/important shoot.

I am going to be purchasing the Canon 24-70 mm lens tomorrow. I currently have a Tamron 28-75 mm lens and I pretty much hate it, and it was time to upgrade.

What are some good settings/apertures to take group shots at so that a front row of people is not a different focus from a back row?

If anyone could also show any examples of groups that they took, that would be really great! (Especially if they are athletic groups!)

F8, and try to get yourself up on a ladder so you're shooting down on the group at an angle.

Good idea with the ladder! Especially seeing as one of the girls is 6'9"! And most of them are at least a few inches taller than me!

I will have to try some aperture/shutter speed/ISO combos when I get the lens, so I know some combos that will work ahead of time!

Thanks again

I don't know if I'd bother with a ladder in my honest opinion.

I realise they're girls, so you want them to look good, but they're also basketball players who are supposed to be 'larger than life' kind of characters. I'd be trying to shoot upwards at them whenever possible.

If you shoot upward at a large group, the people in back will be hidden.

I agree, that the upward angle might work on the individual shots, or the more casual shots, but not in the posed, formal shot. I will keep it in mind however, as a new perspective for some of the "fun" shots

chris_holtmeier wrote in post #15105825
If you shoot upward at a large group, the people in back will be hidden.

Not if the people on the front are kneeling, but you're right - It wouldn't look well.

What could work is to put the camera on the ground with a wide-angle lens and get everyone to crowd around it. I'm sure you've seen this done by the teenage girls on facebook who drop the camera and stand around in a circle over it, and it looks crap, but if you do it properly, it can look really well (in my opinion) and would add a lot of height/dominance in such a photo (basketball team).


But it's personal choice.


What I would say, OP, is make sure you get them all lined up in a single row (or two rows, if there's a lot of them. And get them to take turns coming forward in the group to you (about 10 foot in front of the group). Use a shallow depth of field and get that one person sharp with a blurry team behind him.

Rinse and repeat with every team player (so you have an individual shot of everyone that's the same, and the group/blurry jerseys are in the background.

It'll be tedious, but you may sell a few prints if you play your cards right.

chokeslamcena wrote in post #15106216
Not if the people on the front are kneeling, but you're right - It wouldn't look well.

What could work is to put the camera on the ground with a wide-angle lens and get everyone to crowd around it. I'm sure you've seen this done by the teenage girls on facebook who drop the camera and stand around in a circle over it, and it looks crap, but if you do it properly, it can look really well (in my opinion) and would add a lot of height/dominance in such a photo (basketball team).


But it's personal choice.


What I would say, OP, is make sure you get them all lined up in a single row (or two rows, if there's a lot of them. And get them to take turns coming forward in the group to you (about 10 foot in front of the group). Use a shallow depth of field and get that one person sharp with a blurry team behind him.

Rinse and repeat with every team player (so you have an individual shot of everyone that's the same, and the group/blurry jerseys are in the background.

It'll be tedious, but you may sell a few prints if you play your cards right.

I really like the circle idea! I was thinking something like that, like the team mimicing their huddle. I also really like the idea of someone coming forward with the team as a background! Thanks so much!

Take a look at this thread:
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1236548

I have given some ideas there.
Most important is Have Fun doing what you love.
Paul

This online depth of field calculator will allow you to calculate a rough estimate of the depth of field for any given shooting distance, focal length, and aperture (adjust as needed to the type of camera you have):
http://www.dofmaster.c​om/dofjs.html

Thank you everyone for steering me in the right directions!

6'9" you need a ladder.