Large Wedding Party Poses

[pia]

I am scheduled to shoot a wedding in a couple of weeks. The wedding party will

consist of 19 people, bride and groom, seven bridesmaids and groomsmen, two

ring bearers and one flower girl. I know there are some really creative

photographers out there that have experienced large parities so I was hoping

that you would be willing to post some pose samples that you have used

successfully in the past. Thanking you in advance for sharing.

Regards,

Peg

[picturesque]

One of many in the archives...

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00HFkS

[pia]

Thanks Nadine. I was hoping for something a little more creative than a line up but that may be what I am limited too.

[mreul]

i wanted to do something different w/ a lot of people and i was in the mountains - so here ya go - i was going for a look that was a bit surreal w/ attitude...<div></div>

[mreul]

here is is again<div></div>

[mreul]

oh crap wrong one here it is yeeeeesh.... ;)<div></div>

[William Michael]

Top right hand corner of the Photo net page type:

 

`Large Wedding Party`

 

<enter>

 

. . .

 

 

http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=site%3Aphoto.net&q=Large+Wedding+Party

 

WW

[William Michael]

>>> post some pose samples that you have used successfully in the past. <<<

 

Ideas would be more tailored, I think, if as well as the size of the group, which has been detailed, a brief description of the venue(s) was supplied.

 

In any event, on a technical note, you firstly consider camera viewpoint and elevation and secondly subject arrangement (both posed and freestyle) to access the coverage of the large group, rather than defaulting automatically to a wider focal length.

 

In a nutshell this equation is what you might consider:

 

`large formal group` + `wide angle` = `fat arms at edges` = unhappy customer

 

WW

[Dave Gardner]

For large groups....i tend to shoot down into....instead of right at.

 

Try to get your self some height...ladder, from a window. One time i even rented a cherry picker. Also winding steps work great. Hope it helps

 

Dave

[pia]

Thanks everyone, the venue is on flat land in Florida at quail creek. It is a fishing, hunting and quail shooting range. There is very little with regards to height. I am taking a ladder for sure. There is a dock with water so I thought I may try something with that. I appreciate all the images and suggestions.

Peg

[joel_stowe]

I don't know if this will work, simply because I don't how things look, but here goes. Have the bride and groom going into the entrance of the cabin/lodge and have the wedding party at various window's some inside, some out side. I think this would lend itself more to a fun shot. Use the water and the woods as a background, placing the bride and groom closer to you, and them space the other wedding party members as gr/bm together. You can work this with some standing, some kneeling, and permitting they don't get to dirty have some of the bridesmaids sitting with the dresses splayed out. Have fun and let your creative juices run. You can have them playing hide and seek while the bride and groom are looking perplexed as to where the wedding party is. Best of luck Joel

[picturesque]

That's actually been dealt with before too. See the following.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Lutb

 

The problem is that a lot of people in a shot that aren't kind of lined up would probably mean you aren't going to see some of the faces clearly, or that some of the people would be really small in the image, or OOF due to depth of field, or darker or lighter due to lighting coverage. Since one of the reasons for the "formal" shot is to see all the faces and clothes, etc., you end up with two contradictory motives.

 

If after shooting the "normal" formal group shot, you try some other things where you don't need every face shown clearly, etc., then that is a different story. You could do some things with depth, spreading people or couples out like Meg shows, but instead of having them looking at the camera, have them interacting--like a painting where you see a scene where all the people are doing something other than looking at the camera. Some would even have their backs turned. You could do the diminishing size idea against a wall, trees, etc., or emphasize the size by having everyone link arms and walk toward you flat on or a a diagonal, or have everyone run toward you, scattered as they may be... or if there is a path, have them going away from you, as if all walking to a picnic... Whenever I try to come up with ideas, I always look hard at the environment. What is it about the environment that stands out? Lots of trees, open plain, tall grass, architecture, rusting cards as in Meg's other example etc., and then try to work with those elements.

[kaiyen]

Meg - I like the creativity in that shot. Not a huge group (12 isn't _that_ big), and if you had a lot more (20?) it would be very crowded with the trees. But nicely done nevertheless.

 

allan

[mreul]

thanks Allen. yeah - it's not that big but it's a bit stray from the traditional...

[picturesque]

Oops..."rusting cars" above.

 

Also, here's one--since it is a fishing lodge, have the wedding party all fishing--on the dock or on the banks.

[surfidaho]

For your equipment, the more megapixels, the better. Faces start looking really broken up when you try to crowd that many into a six megapixel frame.

 

Also, use your finest wide angle to capture as much detail as possible.

[jaimie blue]

Like both of those shots Meg.

[William Michael]

>>> The problem is that a lot of people in a shot that aren't kind of lined up would probably mean you aren't going to see some of the faces clearly [. . . ] you end up with two contradictory motives.

 

I ditto that comment: and it is also important to shoot for the end result image.

 

In that regard, we would have solutions for the 5x7 images as well as the 30 x 40 lounge room print: the creative arrangements available to the photographer would be different in these two circumstances.

 

WW

[mreul]

thanks Jaimie - I appreciate it... ;)

[kiva]

I'll share a recent group shot and a bit of the boring thinking process.

 

Two things I find helpful for a different look for a group shot.

 

1. Find a location that has meaning or objects that have meaning: here the group had cigars as planned and they wanted to do the photo infront of a fireplace ... we did that but I then took them to a room that had a wooden carved statue of an Indian who just happened to be holding a fist full of cigars! What are the chances, lol. The group howled with laughter.

 

2. I ask them to make a group then ask them to compress together and then I suggest they "celebrate" the wedding loudly and at the same time I ask them to "scrunch down" (that's an official posing word of course). The always seem to know what it means and form an original scrunched formation every time and they walk away buzzing with chatter. (btw, all the "asking" mentioned above is quick and insistent orders on my part that happens in seconds ... I don't want them to be thinking at all ... it's a Nike thing: Just Do It!.)

 

(note: it's helpful to scout locations out ahead of time otherwise you've limited yourself to what the eyes see in your immediate surroundings ... don't limit yourself on these type of shots and have it planned so the group can hurry back to where they're supposed to be: with the guests.<div></div>