Tips for group shots?

Marc

Marc

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When I take photos of the presentations at the Polo, I always struggle to get everyone looking at the camera when I press the shutter. Usually they are quite hyper and it's difficult enough to get them in front of the camera in the first place and they don't seem to want to hang around long, this coupled with the fact that there are eight to ten teams involved in the presentations so I don't have a lot of time for each shot. It's also very difficult to get them to all stand there while I check the shot on the camera. I do always try to take two shots just in case.

Example below:

present.jpg


Does anyone here have any tips on how to get everyone's full attention in a very short timeframe?
 
Ask them to stop eyeing up the ladies on the opposing team and look at you for 15 seconds while appologising for not being as attractive - seriously it does work and as you know polo is not exactly PC!! From what I have seen the girls are more likely to be looking at you, but the men are looking anywhere but at you so if you can get their attention you will get the shot! I think that for that team the patron is number 4, if so it could be better if he is in the middle from a sales point of view ;)
 
Scream until they look :D

Seriously, its not hard to look at the camera for 5 seconds is it? Stand between them and other people? So if they are still eyeing up the birds behind you, they are still looking in the direction of the camera?

I still say scream more :lol:
 
Hold a rubber chicken over the camera and shout look at the naked bird! (for the guy shots) :)
 
susie said:
I think that for that team the patron is number 4, if so it could be better if he is in the middle from a sales point of view ;)
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Funny you should say that, the patron is No.2! No.4 is a professional polo player!!:eek:

Betty, you're probably right, I may need to be a little more assertive!
 
Steep said:
Hold a rubber chicken over the camera and shout look at the naked bird! (for the guy shots) :)
Click to expand...

Haha, forget my idea! This works much better :lol:

But only use it once for a big group shot, otherwise they'll soon get wise to your antics ;)
 
fabs said:
Funny you should say that, the patron is No.2! No.4 is a professional polo player!!:eek:
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Ah, I was standing with some people a few weeks ago who told me it was the other way round!!
Throws the stereotype of a pro out of the window though :lol:
 
susie said:
Ah, I was standing with some people a few weeks ago who told me it was the other way round!!
Throws the stereotype of a pro out of the window though :lol:
Click to expand...

The numbers denote the playing positions so any one could be the patron. In most cases though, the patrons tend to play at 1 or 2 as these are the forward positions, so the pros can set the patron up to score the goals and get the glory!:D
 
Number one is related to number 2 there?
 
Also, going back to a trick someone posted about there other day, frame your shot and then stand up, face the group and get their attention. Use a remote to fire the shutter when you see them all looking the right way.
 
Steep said:
Also, going back to a trick someone posted about there other day, frame your shot and then stand up, face the group and get their attention. Use a remote to fire the shutter when you see them all looking the right way.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I don't usually use a tripod as it's very difficult to get them to stand in the right place in the allotted time, but I may see if I can come up with a way of doing so.
 
Keep talking to them while you're shooting, keep their attention, I usually take 4 or 5 shots of any group. In the unlikely event you don't have one where they are all looking, or someone has their eyes shut, you can always cut and paste eyes from one pic to another.
 
WeddingHack said:
Keep talking to them while you're shooting, keep their attention, I usually take 4 or 5 shots of any group. In the unlikely event you don't have one where they are all looking, or someone has their eyes shut, you can always cut and paste eyes from one pic to another.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Duncan. I did that for a group shot and it worked really well! :thumbs:
 
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