What focal length for a group portrait?

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Andy82

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I was recently asked to take our family group portrait by my father in law. I'm completely fine with it. Rather than just plonking my sigma 17.50 on a tripod and shooting at 17-20mm I was wondering what focal length I can get away with. I have a 50mm 1.8 and an 85mm 1.8. I'll be able to get everyone to go out to a location where there will be space, and there may be around 10 people including a few children. Could I shoot with the 85mm at maybe f4? I'm thinking that it will make it more intimate. Maybe the 50mm? I have taken plenty of portraits with the 85mm but not group shots. Also, I'm using a crop sensor camera and I'll be in the shot so I'll be hitting the shutter button and making a dash to be in the shot [emoji16].

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section. I'm not sure which section it applies too.

Andy.
 
Your 50mm should be perfect for this scenario. No wireless shutter release ?

What camera do you have ?

Cheers,

Dougie.
 
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IMO, no shorter than 35mm. :confused:
 
As you mention a Sigma 17-50 you have a Crop Sensor (DX) camera (sorry you said that) so a 50mm will be a short telephoto in terms or field of view and I would suspect that will be a little narrow. Your 17-50 at around 23-35 would be ideal (35-50 equivalent field of view) I would think.

As for being in the picture... do you have Nikon? If so then a £5 Amazon Basics remote (ML-L3 equivalent) would be worthwhile. If you can use your phone or tablet as a remote with your camera then even better.
 
As distortions are caused by viewpoint rather than focal length it as more a matter of how far away you should be .
In reality it is rarely a problem with groups provided that you stand well back. You can then use what ever lens gets them in conveniently. In the past groups were usually taken with a standard lens. But a bit longer or shorter will not make a great deal of differemce.
 
I just did a family group photo for my family; 10 people (6 adults, 4 small kids) = 2 rows of 5-ish.
The camera was about 4 metres away and I shot at 40mm on full frame, so about 25mm on a crop sensor. Much wider and you get distortion. If I needed to go wider for a bigger group, I'd move the camera back.
I fired the camera remotely, took about 12 shots and then merged the 3 with the best facial expressions (merging is option, but make sure you take plenty so you can get the best overall shot for expressions).
 
Of course ... once you get the focal length sorted ... you have the nightmare of lighting!!
 
Hi Andy. I'm no expert and the only real experience of taking a group photo is when I have have to do our Christmas day photo. Which is taken in our dinning room which is not large at all. So as someone said above it's more about the room or area available and how far you can get away from the group (with camera). I use my 24 to 105 on full frame and have the camera on tripod right up against the rear wall still end up using it at 24mm. As long as the people are in the center area it all works out fine.
As you say room will not be an issue for you so any of your lenses should be fine.

I shot last years at F7.1
12 in total 2 being kids and one dog.
Bounced flash off ceiling/wall.


Gaz
 
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Snapper67 said:
Your 50mm should be perfect for this scenario. No wireless shutter release ?

What camera do you have ?

Cheers,

Dougie.
Click to expand...
I have a nikon d5200 but don't have a remote shutter release as of yet. Never really needed one.
 
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Eloise said:
The Amazon Basics one is £5. It is (as the name suggests) a basic shutter release but really no excuse.
Click to expand...
If it's a cable release I don't see the point. I will still have to set the internal timer and walk into the shot.
 
Andy82 said:
If it's a cable release I don't see the point. I will still have to set the internal timer and walk into the shot.
Click to expand...
Well its your choice ... just a lot more relaxed to get into position, click the wireless release and hide it in your hand in the 3 seconds you get.
 
Eloise said:
Well its your choice ... just a lot more relaxed to get into position, click the wireless release and hide it in your hand in the 3 seconds you get.
Click to expand...
I don't have a location yet but I will look for somewhere with plenty of space. At a guess I imagine the camera will be 15-20 feet away at most. I understand using a wireless shutter release but a wired one a few feet long won't be any good I imagine.
 
Andy82 said:
I don't have a location yet but I will look for somewhere with plenty of space. At a guess I imagine the camera will be 15-20 feet away at most. I understand using a wireless shutter release but a wired one a few feet long won't be any good I imagine.
Click to expand...
Sorry if I wasn't clear ... the Amazon shutter release is wireless. Its the same as the Nikon ML-L3 - but Nikon charge £30 or so vs £8 for Amazon branded.
 
Eloise said:
Sorry if I wasn't clear ... the Amazon shutter release is wireless. Its the same as the Nikon ML-L3 - but Nikon charge £30 or so vs £8 for Amazon branded.
Click to expand...
Ah I see. I was looking at the amazon choice one for about 5 quid. Lol.
 
A wireless remote is very handy as you can fire a number of shots with no one moving majorly. If you have to use the timer, you set the timer, run into shot, take the shot, walk back (check the shot), set the timer again, walk back into shot get settled, another shot, walk back....
You'll only get 2 shots per minute, people will get bored and they'll move which makes merging shots more difficult. With a wireless remote you can, fire off 10 shots or more in a minute while people are still alert and happy before they get bored (you'll get better expressions too) and then it's done.

As for lighting, because the family home is quite dark we just used a sofa in the conservatory using natural light in the afternoon. The camera was actually through the doors inside the living room. I could have moved the camera closer and gone wider with the lens to 24mm (15mm equivalent on crop) but then it would have been more distorted, which is not ideal for people.
We did tidy the conservatory up, removed clutter and centralised the sofa for a better composition, but that was is. No backgrounds, no lights, just camera, tripod and remote. If it's your own family and especially with kids present, it's best to get it setup before moving people into the shot so they don't sit around getting impatient.
 
Andy82 said:
I was recently asked to take our family group portrait by my father in law. I'm completely fine with it. Rather than just plonking my sigma 17.50 on a tripod and shooting at 17-20mm I was wondering what focal length I can get away with. I have a 50mm 1.8 and an 85mm 1.8. I'll be able to get everyone to go out to a location where there will be space, and there may be around 10 people including a few children. Could I shoot with the 85mm at maybe f4? I'm thinking that it will make it more intimate. Maybe the 50mm? I have taken plenty of portraits with the 85mm but not group shots. Also, I'm using a crop sensor camera and I'll be in the shot so I'll be hitting the shutter button and making a dash to be in the shot [emoji16].

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section. I'm not sure which section it applies too.

Andy.
Click to expand...

It's more about viewpoint and distance/perspective than focal length as such, and good arrangement of the group. 17-50mm on a cropper should cover all the options, probably around the middle of the range. Avoid wide-angle and shooting too close - it'll make those in front appear disproportionately large and distort those towards the edges. Always a good idea to leave plenty of space around the edges in any case.

A handy wedding photographers' trick is to use a small step-ladder, especially for larger groups. Helps prevent faces at the back being hidden, gives an interesting viewpoint and reduces unattractive backgrounds but if you're in the picture as well you'll need a tall tripod. A radio remote release is a very good idea and shoot lots more than you think you'll need in case of blinking etc.
 
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