Lighting a group?

A big group...

I may have the opportunity to take pictures for a high school marching band. There's going to be 108 kids and they'll be positioned on the bleachers so they can all be seen. How would you go about with the lighting? Would you just do ambient? Would you use several powerful strobes and umbrellas?

Indoors I would use all four of my studio lights and possibly some of my speedlights. I'd put reflectors on two or three of the lights to hit the kids farthest away. Those closest to the camera would get light from a large softbox or umbrella.

I'd also shoot from a ladder.

Inside i'd also use studio lights, up as high as I can get them. The trouble will be lighting them evenly. If you're 5m from the front row then you're probably 7m from the back row, so a light in your position will light the front more than the back. If the light's really high up in the air (13-20ft) this reduces the relative distance and will result in more even lighting, unless it falls over, then you're in the sh*t.

I would want to experiment before I did this, take a few friends into the same situation and experiment. Try 2-4 diffused strobes, up high, pointing at them. Try them undiffused too. Try them directly above the camera (you'll be on a ladder), and try having one either side of the camera - 45 degrees or less I think, i'm thinking again of relative distance.

Hopefully someone who actually knows how to do this will answer. I regularly photograph groups of 50-400, but always outside. I only tried it once inside, with speedlites, the photo came out but only ok as no-one had told me in advance what we were doing (original photographer was sick I was the last minute replacement).

As I just did this for a band I photograph and I have another suggestion.

Start the first row with say 11 band members, then put 12 in the next, then 13, then 14, then 15, then 14, then 13 and so on. This way you can stagger the rows so that everyones face can be seen. Figure out ahead of time how many rows you will need.

Are you doing this indoors or out? Standing or sitting? In uniform and if so what is the base color?

You really do want to shoot from a ladder. I was on a stage on a ladder for mine. If you are shooting from gym floor level or football field level then you will want a tall ladder.

mrcoons wrote in post #6182317
As I just did this for a band I photograph and I have another suggestion.

Start the first row with say 11 band members, then put 12 in the next, then 13, then 14, then 15, then 14, then 13 and so on. This way you can stagger the rows so that everyones face can be seen. Figure out ahead of time how many rows you will need.

Are you doing this indoors or out? Standing or sitting? In uniform and if so what is the base color?

You really do want to shoot from a ladder. I was on a stage on a ladder for mine. If you are shooting from gym floor level or football field level then you will want a tall ladder.

Outside in the bleachers, white with green pants and red accents iirc, standing.

I was definitely going to stagger them.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #6182593
Outside in the bleachers, white with green pants and red accents iirc, standing.

I was definitely going to stagger them.

Great, sound like a nice uniform to photograph. (Ours are all black, not much fun.) Which direction do the bleachers face and what time of day will this shoot occur?

mrcoons wrote in post #6182617
Great, sound like a nice uniform to photograph. (Ours are all black, not much fun.) Which direction do the bleachers face and what time of day will this shoot occur?

That's one thing I have to find out.

After that it's single portraits of all 108 students. I have that covered, but I have to consider how long that's going to take and when I can do that with the school's schedule.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #6183020
That's one thing I have to find out.

After that it's single portraits of all 108 students. I have that covered, but I have to consider how long that's going to take and when I can do that with the school's schedule.

If this will be during decent daytime light then all you may need are some large reflectors to direct the light where it needs to go. (Get a couple of people to hold up a white sheet to angle the light in where you want it.) In Illinois where I live almost every stadium I've seen the bleachers face east/west. So if I was doing this after 4pm I'd have great light as our home bleachers face west. But nothing is ever that easy or has not been for me anyway.

Allow about 10 - 15 minutes to get them arranged. Then a period of time to get the light they way you want and then start shooting away.

Only portraits I was asked to take was of the seniors. I had 25 seniors and I took their portraits in about 10 minutes (I took a group shot prior to that). I had them come off the stage in a single line and then just photographed each one in turn.

Here are my seniors: