shooting the jump

[eliza_beth]

<p>Does anyone have any techniques that they use to get the bridal party to all jump at the same time?</p><div></div>

[william-porter]

<p>Photo you posted looks fine. Getting more than half a dozen people to do ANYTHING at the same moment is a problem.</p>

<p>Try counting 1-and-2-and-3-and... Tell the group that on "2" they should bend their knees, and on 3 they should jump. You have your camera set to continuous and hit the shutter on "3" and hold it until "4". That way you get 3, or 5, or 7 pictures or whatever number your camera can shoot in a second or so.</p>

<p>Practice helps people become aware of the others around them. </p>

[picturesque]

<p>They usually decide among themselves whether it is "One, two, three, jump" or "One, two, jump on three". Either way, seems to work with adults. Kids are another story.</p>

[maximphotostudio]

<p>William has a good point. I do several shots on 1-2-3 and then depending on how much air the ladies are getting, I may ask them to jump on 3 while guys jump on 2. Guys tend to want to demonstrate their 38" verticals, while the ladies are content with 5" jumps.</p>

[nuzumphoto]

<p>Same as above...a couple takes and put the drive on high-speed. Sometimes the ones where half the group jumps and the other half doesn't are fun too. Letting them take some control allows for some fun moments.</p>

[betty_lowrey2]

<p>I actually like it better if they're NOT all doing the same jump at the same time.<br>

What I do is could to three, tell them to start jumping, and shoot a bazillion frames.<br>

Usually one or two turns out pretty funny</p>

[jon rennie]

<p>I do the 1-2-3-JUMP technique. It almost never works the first try. There will always be late or early jumpers, and sometimes people's hands will go infront of others faces.<br>

So after the first try I always pick on those who did it poorly in a fun way. I call them out and show everyone the shot before trying it again. When they see that I will do this, it gives extra incentive to do it right the next time and they always get it within the next 2 tries. Unless you are shooting with a 10fps camera don't bother with continuous shooting - too much chance YOU will miss the best moment of the apex. 4-6fps just isn't fast enough in my opinion.<br>

Here is an example of one I did with a group of 8 a couple weeks ago. I think this was the 3rd try. 2nd one worked, but this one by far was the best. They were even in heels.<br>

<img src="http://www.jonrennie.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/img_9383.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="367" /></p>

[martindomok]

<p>Lovely jobly!</p>

[savagesax]

I often use a tripod, stand next to the pod, count to 3 and jump WITH the people. Trigger the camera remotely. They cost about $35. After 2 or 3 tries there's a good image. The key is they jump when you do, because they can see you. When the group is larger they can't see each other, so the timing is alot harder to obtain. Due to the camera delay, fire your remote as you start jumping up, not at the high point, because you will miss the shot everytime due to the shutter lag.

 

About shutter lag. Every camera has a delay, some worse than others. The Nikon D3 or the D3X has the shortest lag delay, something like .045 of a second. Most Canon models seem to be slower than top of the line Nikons.

[mgk1966]

<p>One thing I always say is to be careful where your hands go when you jump. Otherwise people's hands will end up in front of their or otheir neighbors' faces. If you're not shooting with flash, you can also set it to burst and then pick the perfect one.</p>

<p>Jon, that's the best air I've seen on one of these for a whole group. No slackers.</p>

[betty_lowrey2]

<p>Jon that is an awesome shot. Look at the air those bridesmaids are getting!</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>Funny, this is a shot from many years ago, we called it the "Toyota jump" after the popular car commercials of the time. Back then, because people were so familiar with the commercial it made it easier for them to understand the effect we were looking for.Bob's idea to model the jump for the bridal party is a good one.</p>

[michaelchadwickphotography]

<p>I have actually considered sticking my camera on the tripod and getting a blank (w/o people) shot of the jump location, then getting several jumps in on a small trampoline, and inserting each person in separately. I think that might be interesting to try. Anyone ever done that?</p>

<p>FANTASTIC shot, Jon!</p>

[mark_t5]

<p>michael: well, in your case you are no longer capturing a moment but rather photoshopping. that is something that i'll not do for weddings.</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>Michael, I think that the bridesmaids jumping on a large trampoline might be a fun photo-op......</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>My usual if asked is the 1-2-3 approach, but not always.</p>

[michaelchadwickphotography]

<p>Oh, I'm sorry Mark. I didn't realize no one ever staged a wedding photo or Photoshopped it. You are obviously a superior photographer.</p>

[lacy_daniels]

<p>I have a Canon XTi and I shoot in the 'P' mode. I still cannot seem to master the jump photos. Any suggestions? All of mine seem to come out a little blurry...</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>