Group photo

[Mushi]

Hello everyone...
I have a silly question ..
where to focas in a group photo to get a sharp shot??
thank you

[carregwen]

Salim

If the people are at different focal planes to the camera (some further back than others) then you may get some of them out of focus. Try to get them all on the same focal plane (although that can make the shot boring). Focus on the most important subject (person). Sometimes it's good to have some of the people/other person out of focus for artistic effect. Always try to get a good shutter speed - 1/125s at least, faster if they are moving slightly. You could try a longer lens and stand further back, but that may compress the scene.

No such thing as a silly question. I was in a business meeting once with 10 people. The speaker kept referring to some technical terminology. Finally, after about 20 mins, I could stand it no longer and asked him what I thought was a silly question. When he explained the terminology everyone in the room mumbled 'Oh, that's what it is..."

[Mushi]

Salim

If the people are at different focal planes to the camera (some further back than others) then you may get some of them out of focus. Try to get them all on the same focal plane (although that can make the shot boring). Focus on the most important subject (person). Sometimes it's good to have some of the people/other person out of focus for artistic effect. Always try to get a good shutter speed - 1/125s at least, faster if they are moving slightly. You could try a longer lens and stand further back, but that may compress the scene.

No such thing as a silly question. I was in a business meeting once with 10 people. The speaker kept referring to some technical terminology. Finally, after about 20 mins, I could stand it no longer and asked him what I thought was a silly question. When he explained the terminology everyone in the room mumbled 'Oh, that's what it is..."

Thank you Rob
My question is abaout a group of people standing together...
#so what i need is a faster shutter speed??? what about if there is no enough light??

Thank you for the advice

[Jim B.]

Hi Salim,

What camera and lens are you going to use? How many people in the group?
Depth of Field will be very important depending on what you want in focus.

[carregwen]

Thank you Rob
My question is abaout a group of people standing together...
#so what i need is a faster shutter speed??? what about if there is no enough light??

Thank you for the advice

To get a 'correct' exposure you always need a certain amount of light. If the light levels are low then you have several choices - use a wider aperture (lower f-number), turn up the ISO to a higher number, get the people to move into a stronger light (if available), use a flash or turn on some artifical lights. It's probably best to turn up the ISO or open the aperture than compromise on a slower shutter speed. Have a look here https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...a-exposure.htm

[Mushi]

Hi Salim,

What camera and lens are you going to use? How many people in the group?
Depth of Field will be very important depending on what you want in focus.

I have canon 450D and a kit lens (18-55mm)....
let's say a group of 10 people on a beach...

thank you

[Mushi]

To get a 'correct' exposure you always need a certain amount of light. If the light levels are low then you have several choices - use a wider aperture (lower f-number), turn up the ISO to a higher number, get the people to move into a stronger light (if available), use a flash or turn on some artifical lights. It's probably best to turn up the ISO or open the aperture than compromise on a slower shutter speed. Have a look here https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...a-exposure.htm

Thank you again Rob

[Shadowman]

I have canon 450D and a kit lens (18-55mm)....
let's say a group of 10 people on a beach...

thank you

Beach shots are difficult during the daytime with so much reflected light. It sounds like you are doing a nighttime shot if you are concerned about there not being enough light. You have two light sources to contend with, moonlight and possibly light from torches, campfire, or another similar source. If you are using campfire and the group is behind the flame look out for the effects this will have on the group's faces and also the degree of light that diminishes as group members are farther away from the source. As Rob said, flash will help fill out the group's features.

[Letrow]

Joe McNally got mentioned in another thread a little while back. This question made me think of him and how he solved the problem of a group shot. See this link and scroll down the page a bit.



Last week, it was sunny, which was a different photographic problem, for sure. Did it all small flash, eight total, six on high stands. Three camera right, three camera left, master hot shoe unit doubling as a flash, and one up top on high boom, for good measure.

Now, you don’t see this type of light in the ads in Vanity Fair. Lush, it ain’t. But effective, yes. This shot isn’t about the light, or the shooter, or the numbers of pixels. This is about recognition, about every guy here going home and saying to his wife, girlfriend or kids, “There, see, there I am.” Not a time for subtlety, just a time to bring the light, and make sure everybody sees it.

Speaking of pixels, I shot it D3X, going to ISO 400. If I had to go higher, would have switched out to D3S, which handles higher ISO’s well. Had three groups going, all wireless, all manual. Yep, no time to mess with the TTL squirrels on this one. Sent them all a signal to go manual, ½ power and then tapered it to ¼. Which is the reason for multiple lights. Coulda done it with fewer, but would have taxed them pretty hard, and, it being an active house that could have gotten a call at any moment, I didn’t want to wait on recycle. Shot about 25 frames, and we were done. Told all the guys they had to see the camera with both eyes. You forget sometimes, you know, ’cause when you can see the camera you think it’s all cool. But you might be seeing it with just one eye, and that means the other half of your face ain’t in the picture. So I had the guys do the blink thing, back and forth, so I knew I had everybody’s eyeballs.

Also got the lights way high. Reason being, you want to fly the flash literally over the front rows to the back rows. Light from eye level the gang up front gets nuked before you can get anything to guys in the way back. So get the lights high up, and the downward spill will take care of the front rows.
Group shots are tough, right? Don’t know a single shooter who really likes to do them. About 1000 ways to screw it up, and only one or two to do it “right.” But it’s cool stuff, ’cause these are some of the most important pictures of life. This is the stuff of memory. These get passed on. These hang on walls.
Maybe, someday, when my pixels have long since turned to dust, one of the young guys in this picture, somebody with a girlfriend now, will return to the house with his grandchildren. He can point to this shot, hanging on the wall, and say, “That was me, a long time ago.” And they’ll look, and he’ll be there, face filled with light, looking at the camera with both eyes.

[didymus]

Nice shot Peter!

How long did it take to set up?

[Letrow]

Nice shot Peter!

How long did it take to set up?

Sorry for the confusion. I pasted in Joe's explanation on the shot. Wish I could do it like him

[Pohled]

. Told all the guys they had to see the camera with both eyes. You forget sometimes, you know, ’cause when you can see the camera you think it’s all cool. But you might be seeing it with just one eye, and that means the other half of your face ain’t in the picture. So I had the guys do the blink thing, back and forth, so I knew I had everybody’s eyeballs.

Hi,

My turn for silly questions.
Do you have an example of picture of a person looking only with one eye to the camera? Does it change very much the picture?
And as for this blinking thing, what exactly do you mean?

Sorry for the totally begginer doubts!

*This thread and this picture made me think of football photos before the matches. They usually are taken very fastly, so it must be a hard work to have everybody looking well.

[Colin Southern]

I pasted in Joe's explanation on the shot. Wish I could do it like him

Just keep following his tutorials on KelbyTraining.com (and buy lots of gear) and you'll get there

[Letrow]

Just keep following his tutorials on KelbyTraining.com (and buy lots of gear) and you'll get there

As long as you buy the good gear of course. It only works with Nikon. The rest is too bad even for Joe to make it work