29 people in beach portrait--HELP!

Hi, I need help. My college roommate (26 years ago) wants me to meet her and 28

of her relatives at a NC beach soon. We're going to do a family portrait. I

need advice from "ya all". A-Dep? Ladder? 5:00pm is what I'm shootin' for.

It's almost a crowd...I AM NOT BRINGING LIGHTING! I have the Canon Speedlite

580. I have a 20 D and a 30D....which LENSE would you use? Thanks.

For full sun, ISO 100, 1/250, f5.6-f11, depending on how you want the background to look. Sun on people's backs, fill front with flash. Probably need to compensate the flash due to backlighting. You'll have to stay fairly close to the group (so your flash will have enough reach) so don't build the group wide. Have people sitting, kneeling, etc. to compact it. If they want the sun/sea in the background, you may have to go with the sun on people's faces, or cross lighting. I would avoid that, but if you can't, you will definitely need to expose for the sunlight and fill the shadows. As for lens, what lens do you have? To be able to stay closer to the group, you'd need at least a 35mm medium wide angle, and maybe wider.

AS for A Dep--wouldn't use it. Don't build the group deep, and if you have rows, pack them closely together. Focus 1/3 into the depth of the group. If you use f5.6 and smaller with medium wide angle to normal lenses, you should have enough DOF. Ladder might be good if you can't have epeople sitting. If you can have people sitting on the ground, a ladder might put you too high, especially if said people are kids.

Off the wall here...see if you can drive a flatbed 4wd truck onto level sand and plonk a small ladder in the bed of the truck. (Make sure you have 'spotters.' that hold the ladder.) That should get you high enough. On a 1.6 crop you'll need to go very wide with three rows of 8-9 per row for one shot and maybe 13 by two rows for a pano? The working range will be 17-35mm depending on how far away you are. A polarizer might be needed. Theoretically the sun is at your back so the crowd should be well lit. However, given the absense of artificial lighting you may encounter challenging backrounds that may become overexposed. It this happens wait until the sun drops more and then go for it. Use the light/clock to your advantage. Take the 20D...it's a beach party!

It will be difficult to get good photo of big group in the harsh light at 5PM. Your 580Ex will

not be enough as fill in light. You can use reflectors, use more than one flash light, or best

wait till the light is softer. People faacing sun will sequent (close eyes) and that will not be

good. If you have to do it at 5PM, have the sun at the back, expose some photos for people's

faces and then take few pictures exposed for the background. Then use HDR function of

photoshop to get good exposure of people and the background in one print. Good luck.

Sandy

The 580EX can fill against bright sun for groups if you stay within about 12 feet from your subjects and don't build the group wide. It will max out the flash, though. And if the beach sand is white, that will help fill as well. People facing in the sun will squint, it is true, and it is a good idea to perhaps shoot at just past sunset, with the reflected sunlight directly illuminating your subjects. I can't see using reflectors for groups that big.

If you get a chance, go the day before to get a feel for what the light will be like. This will give you some time to think about the lighting challenges and possible solutions. It will probably work better than advice from people on the iternet who have no idea what the light or the setting will be like.

Oh thank you so much. My lenses: 17-40mm, 28-135mm and 70-200mm. Sun on their backs?

Assuming you have the ocean in the background, the sun will be on their faces (and at YOUR back) at 5:00 p.m. in NC.

 

Jake

Hi Laura, it is quite common to use sun behind the subject but away from the frame, IMO it gives a natural group of facial expressions without squinting & turning heads. I use this way for team shots, also the P&S`s behind usually don`t have the flash power to balance (meany haha) you will need to use the lenshood to prevent flare.

 

I agree most what Nadine says, I`ll show a disorganized shot a mth ago showing some what Nadine is saying. The shot with a 20d+17 50 f2.8, taken at 34mm should have been 21~24, my parner moved back up a slope to gain height, a simple 2 step ladder would have been better. This lost some affect from the flash (550EX)which could have been uped with fec. as the exposure was 100iso 1/200th f9 keeping flash sync. `M` mode read from background. Try to keep horizon from not running through the group if possible. Also managed to get this group of the sand onto the foreshore (grass) This was shot 10am towards NE.

 

HTH

should have been

 

`Try to keep the horizon from running through the group` thats MO just don` like seeing the sky & sea meeting ear to ear.

With that many people, eyes will be closed & people caught mid talking.... take at least 5 or 6 shots to be able to clone in a better face.