group photo

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casfan

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Not been on here for a while and not had my camera out too for about a year.

My mate is moving down south and he knows i did a bit of photography he wants a group photo of his family and 2 dogs (9 people) in front of the trees in the local park so he can get it put on canvas for his mum and dad. He as asked me to do it. I have never done anything like this before and am scared of getting it all wrong. I have a d40 with two lenses and just a normal point and shoot.

Any tips on how i can make it nice for him
 
18-55 kit lens and Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6 G AF-S DX "VR" Lens
 
You'd want to use the 18-55 to fit everyone one in. A fast shutter speed (especially with the dogs) and an aperture of at least f8 to keep everyone in focus and try to position for the best light. Oh, and a tripod. Also, depending if you want the trees in focus or slightly blurred, move the group forward of back and try not to widen the aperture. Hope this helps :)
 
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Having said that it's in the park, you will have the space to move backwards and use the longer lens. Wide angles tend to distort the people at the edges and whilst it can be a nice effect you want to be careful with it.

In terms of 9 people its not too many (my 1st ever pro shoot was a family group of 32 ! - Yes I was cacking myself). Use the park and the natural props it provides - benches, trees, walls etc.

Have a look at the group posing guides on the net, for formal grouping work they can help a lot.

Most importantly keep it fun - bored people very rarely look good in photos !

Lastly - good luck !
 
Sorry to hi-jack Iam going to be doing some groups shots soon of about 4/5 people what setting would you suggest? Will be a mixture of inside and out...

Will probably use my 50mm but I do have a 24-105 L lens available...
 
Thanks fokes, this is one of the best I took.
portrate.jpg


I couldnt get the hand of the light as you can see its a bit blown.

Is there anything I can do in post processing to make it better?
 
not really - once the highlight detail has gone its gone usually (if you shot it in raw you can try to recover some detail but i woulnt be hopeful)

You probably should have exposed it a bit darker to keep the whites, then recovered the darker tones which is easier - but does tent to lead to noise.

Also It looks to me like you posed them facing the light which is why you've had this problem - plus a bunch of them are squinting. I think i'd have been inclined to pose them with the light behind them and expose for the sky , then fill flash the group.

To be brutally frank i'd rate these as okay for family snaps and not much better than that - if all his mum wants is some pics of the kids then i'm sure she'll be happy, but if she's expecting a proffesional quality photoshoot print then she may be disapointed
 
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