20 Person Group Shot on Monday

[bradleywalter]

Hi Everyone,

 

I've got a group shot at a bank this coming Monday. about 20 people, indoors, lower ceilings (10ft or so,

white), with several little recessed lights throughout.

 

I will probably use my new 17-55 2.8 IS lens for this, and I have a 580ex II coming tomorrow. Some general

questions:

 

1) Any good sites showing different posing techniques you can recommend?

 

2) Any advice on lighting? I have the 580ex II and some Cyber Syncs to remote it if required. I also have a 43

inch umbrella and stand. Would bouncing it off the umbrella work from one side? Up? Just have no experience

with this so any advice would be great.

 

3) Outdoors - if we took it outside, say in the shade in the morning on the side of a building - is one 580ex II

light off an umbrella enough power?

 

Any advice at all regarding some best practices or sharing your experiences would be great and will surely

benefit those reading this post in the future.

 

Thanks kindly,

BW

[bryantan]

Doing a group shot with only one light is tough. And your 43" umbrella is going to be a pretty harsh light source at the distance you will need to work at. But you need to do what with you have.

 

If indoors, I'd selectively turn on some of the recessed lights as backish hairlights. Make sure you gel your flash to balance though. Have an assistant hold the umbrella HIGH and feather so you get even coverage throughout the group. Use a nearby wall for fill if you have neutral walls.

 

If outdoors, it's pretty much the same procedure, except now you get the open shade as fill, so you have more latitude over where you place your key light.

 

In either case, you're most likely working at full power.

[picturesque]

What's the photo going to be used for? Is it casual or more formal? How big is it going to be printed?

 

1. Don't know of any sites showing posing of corporate people. Sometimes it matters where the head honchos are and sometimes it doesn't. Some of this is dependent upon the purpose of the photo. Usually, they like to use the conference table, which is boring. For that, you sit some people and have the rest stand. Avoid having just lines of people. If the chairs have arms, try putting people on different levels, but again--rank sometimes matters. As does women vs men, small people vs. large people--people who are bald (not good to shine the recessed lights on their heads).

 

2. If the image doesn't have to be printed large or of extreme quality, I'd bounce off walls, if the walls are neutral/white/cream. You can't get much larger than a whole wall for a light source. The umbrella might be a bit too small for that kind of group. If the walls are of no help, use the umbrella. You want the umbrella to be about 15 degrees to one side or the other of the camera, up high but not so high the light won't reach the eye sockets of the people sitting.

 

3. In the shade in the morning would mean you don't need an umbrella. Use the flash direct but several stops below the ambient. The shade should be even--no dappled sun, unless the sun is on people's backs. Umbrellas outside are a hazard, anyway. A popular, more casual photo is looking down on the group from above--a balcony or something.

[picturesque]

Forgot to say, in the conference room picture--people are in one side of the room, not all around the table.

[steve_c.5]

Indoors: Without an amber (1/4 CTO) gel on your flash, your flash lighting will be a different color temperature than

the indoor recessed lights, and you'll have weird color temp problems. Your people will likely come out normal, and

the recessed lights will look amber behind them. You probably don't have time to get your hands on some gel

material in the meantime. If you do, cutting a rectangle of that material and placing it over your flash will help balance

the lighting. Unless those ceiling cans have compact flourescents, in which case you'd need a different color gel

entirely. Trigger your flash with the CyberSync and mount it on a stand if you have it, or rig it on a cheap tripod

somehow. Position the flash a few feet to your right or left, and aim it directly at the crowd as fill. Zoom the flash to

the widest angle setting in manual mode (and try pulling out the built-in diffuser panel to diffuse it even more) and

crank the flash to maximum power, and then dial it down in increments to see what works best. You could even try

placing milky tupperware plastic over the flash to make it softer, then try shooting without it. Try it both ways to see

what makes the best image.

 

Outdoors: Better situation, particularly if the backdrop is pretty, like a nice shady oak. Position your folks under the

shady area with them facing out toward indirect reflected sunlight. If there is a building wall with direct sunlight

bouncing off it, point them toward that. Don't put them with the sun shining in their faces. Trigger your flash with the

CyberSync and mount it on a stand if you have it, or rig it on a cheap tripod somehow. Position the flash a few feet to

your right or left, and aim it directly at the crowd as fill. Zoom the flash to the widest angle setting in manual mode

(and try pulling out the built-in diffuser panel to diffuse it even more) and crank the flash to maximum power, and then

dial it down in increments to see what works best. You could even try placing milky tupperware plastic over the flash

to make it softer, then try shooting without it. Try it both ways to see what makes the best image. Getting the flash

off the camera will give better dimension to the lighting and more modeling in your subjects.

 

In either case, I'd forget the umbrella. It's mostly for shooting one person, not a 20 person group. If you do more of

this in the future, get yourself a second flash, a couple of cheap shoe-mount stands with umbrella adapters, and a

couple of white shoot-thru umbrellas.

 

Go there in similar conditions beforehand if possible with a friend or two to stand-in as subject, so you can

experiment. It would be time well spent and you'll learn a lot. And, you won't waste this group's time experimenting

on the job.

 

Also, use manual settings. Experiment to see what works best. Start at 1/125 and f8 and work from there.

Remember that to control flash effect, adjust your aperture setting. Adjusting shutter speed does nothing to increase

or reduce the effects of the flash.

 

Good luck!

[bradleywalter]

Awesome, thoughtful advice thus far. Thank you all for taking the time to help out. If anyone has additional input, I'd love to hear it.

 

What I'm gathering so far is that outdoors would be best, but if I'm indoors, spread that flash as wide as I can get it, gel to match the light, and test test test before hand to show professionalism when the real subjects are there.

 

Thanks everyone,

BW

[shma el]

in doors ; point umbrella 180 deg.away from the people. do not go under 35mm on FF camera.<div></div>

[nathan_stiles]

Your hotshoe flash is too small to do much. If I was inclined to use it, I'd proabably have it off axis, forgo the umbrella as you don't have enough power to lose anymore, and bounce it off the much larger ceiling. But... a large glass window would probably server you better. Many buisnesses have a glass front, that works well.

 

If you do the above, then you have to be careful of the indoor lighting and how much of a color cast it may be causing-- fun stuff.

[bradleywalter]

Wouldn't you know it - we've got mixed lighting. Whats does one do in addition to, or beside, gel on the flash? I may be able to turn off certain lights, and I will keep the forum updated as conditions arise, but given a mixed lighting situation - any specific advice for fluorescent and tung mixtures?

[picturesque]

Turn off one of the lights and gel your flash to match the other. Preferably turn off the fluorescents. It is easier to gel for tungsten since a little golden color is OK and even, preferred. But not green or magenta.