Advice please - large group shot

[Alzibiff]

I am looking for advice on shooting a large group - up to 180 people of mature years - none of that sitting down or kneeling up! Ages range from mid 30s to late 60s, the majority being towards the older end of that range.

First thoughts of mine ....
Location: I have secured the use of a sports stadium for the shoot. This will enable everyone to sit down in one of the stands and as the seats are tiered, this should give me a good head shot of everyone in the group. I will need to be on the pitch of course, looking towards the stand.
How many rows should I go for?

Light: This worries me as it all depends on the day. Could be sunny, could be shady - just hoping that I can find a stand which isn't half and half on the day (will be doing a reccy, the previous week). Time of year - late September/early October at around midday.

Lens: 50mm prime? 17-40mm wide? I am worried that I am going to get distortion given the size of the group. Help!

Camera settings. I will need a reasonably small aperture I guess - say f/16? Shutter speed will then be dictated by the ISO but as I want a high quality image, I need to keep the ISO as low as I can.

Now it gets tricky. I intend to put the camera on a tripod but have in mind that I would like to move across the group in order to get as much detail of each individual as possible - taking shots as I go and stitching them together when back at base. Good idea or not? If I am to use this technique I will need some sort of rail on the tripod and the camera fixed on a sliding plate so that I can move the camera between shots - any ideas if such a thing exists and if so, who makes it and at what cost?

Finally - how do they do those wide panoramic whole school photo shots? I suspect that I will not have and could not afford such gear for this shoot but it would be interesting to find out.

This is an important shoot. A one off of a group of people - I want to do the best job possible.

Thank you for your help.

Alan

 

[awp]

Doing any kind of multi shot stitch up is just asking for trouble. 180 is 6 rows of 30 wide or maybe 9 rows of 20 wide - which is not too bad at all. I'd get up high on a step ladder - maybe camera at 10 feet off the ground to give yourself a better angle and better control of DoF. Definitely use a zoom lens - you need to frame it nicely and you can't easily move yourself as you'll be on a ladder - so zoom. Get a megaphone and an assistant as well!

 

[lensflair]

Doing any kind of multi shot stitch up is just asking for trouble. 180 is 6 rows of 30 wide or maybe 9 rows of 20 wide - which is not too bad at all. I'd get up high on a step ladder - maybe camera at 10 feet off the ground to give yourself a better angle and better control of DoF. Definitely use a zoom lens - you need to frame it nicely and you can't easily move yourself as you'll be on a ladder - so zoom. Get a megaphone and an assistant as well!

+1
I use a little cheap walk tally with an earpiece to talk to my assistant, saves yelling especially if its noisy. You won't need f16 if your up high.

 

[snapzz]

Dont over complicate the shot.

Firstly arrange the rows to fit the format (more squarer if cropping to 10x8 or more letterbox if 12x8). Next use a ladder to level out the height issue, this will enable you to use a wider angle lens with no distortion. Depending on the light available you may need to add additional light **** may then start to get tricky with that number of people. As an option you "switch" the group around and shoot down from the stands and arrange the group informally in (say) arc shape?
Finally to gain attention use a whistle which is far cheaper than a megaphone.