Big wedding group shots in bad light.

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-Rob-

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I’m after some advice from the more experienced wedding photographers of the forum in case I find myself in the same position again as I did on Saturday.

I was shooting a wedding in a very sunny Blackpool. After the church ceremony the 160 guests convened around the front of the church and I spent a good 5 to 10 minutes trying to get them in to position for a big group shot. Due to the layout of the church there was only one possible place to shoot a group of that size so that’s where we went. The problem is, at the very time the group where in place the sun was shining very brightly in to their faces but also on to a tree that was putting half the group in shadow and other half in bright direct sunlight.

I looked up at the sky and roughly 5 minutes away there was a big cloud coming that would have covered the sun giving a more even light across everyone. I decided 5 minutes was too long to keep 160 people waiting so I just took the shot in the horrendous lighting. As it happens, the shot isn’t quite as bad as I first expected but I’d still be interested in the view of the experienced photographers.

What would you have done in the same kind of position?
 
the only answer would be to split them intro groups,family bride,family groom and friends which means you need smaller areas.To be honest I cant remember the last time i was at a wedding where they did the "Everybody" group
 
I did all the smaller groups afterwards and was able to do them in the shade.

I've always done a group shot of all the guests at every wedding. Is that not really the done thing any more? I'd be perfectly happy never doing one ever again, I hate them.
 
-Rob- said:
I did all the smaller groups afterwards and was able to do them in the shade.

I've always done a group shot of all the guests at every wedding. Is that not really the done thing any more? I'd be perfectly happy never doing one ever again, I hate them.
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About 4 years since i last did a full group i always suggest the 3 smaller groups and have had no complaints
 
I'd have only agreed to a group shot of 160 guests if I knew the venue allowed me access to a first floor window or fire escape etc to get height above the group. Otherwise for that number I'd shoot in smaller groups.
Saying that though I've shot the 'everybody' shot in all bar 2 weddings this year & they were at the same venue which was just hopeless for a group bigger than about 30 people. Given the choice I prefer to do one group shot rather than three so that we can get that shot out of the way & move on asap
In your situation I would have done the same though. When once you've got people into position you can't keep them there for 5 minutes it would feel like an eternity.
 
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I've only been in this situation once, customer wanted a group shot of 130 people, no elevated spots at all - having reccied the venue only thing I could do was bring a very tall set of steps, which is what I did.
 
psenior1 said:
I've only been in this situation once, customer wanted a group shot of 130 people, no elevated spots at all - having reccied the venue only thing I could do was bring a very tall set of steps, which is what I did.
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I've seen it done with a monopod, UWA and remote release.

I'd not have shot in the harsh light though.
 
If additional lighting was out of the question (and it would have been difficult to set up and balance with all those people), then I would have tried to bracket exposure and combine images in PS.
Or there might have been enough dynamic range in the raw file to equalize everything in Lightroom.
But I'm not a seasoned pro by any stretch of the imagination!
 
Firstly I wouldn't have been in that position. Recce (either in person or via Streetview) would have shown the issue with arranging 160 people. I would always take the time to plan a shot with that many.

Secondly I'd have waited the 5 minutes - really it's easy to distract a large number of people for a few minutes. This is pretty much the skill in group photography.

Thirdly flash. Lots and lots of flash.

Oh and personally I hate UWAs for groups. Only time I was forced to use one it took a long time in post.
 
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